FRAGMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW PARADIGM AND CONFLICT OF JURISDICTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL COURTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE
Abstract
Fragmentation of international law can be studied from a variety of perspectives and the one chosen for this research is whether and how the conflict of jurisdictions (or other types of conflicts, in terms of interpretation or enforcement) of international judicial and quasi-judicial bodies affect the unity of international law. While the answer might seem to be too obvious to justify the question, it is still not to be too easily assumed. The second issue discussed in this paper is whether and to what extent the external authority of an international court affects the resolution of a conflict. Both issues are too grand for a single paper so the research will be focused solely on three case studies involving the European Court of Justice: Mox Plant, Kadi and Achmea cases. In all three of them the EU Court of Justice clashed with another adjudicative authority and prevailed in the first two but seems to have lost a battle in the third. The article explores the reasons for these outcomes relying inter alia on the concept of external authority of a judicial institution. These findings are coupled with discussion on how these outcomes can be assessed from the perspective of (de)fragmentation of international law.
References
Alter, Karen J., et al., “How Context Shapes the Authority of International Courts”, Law and Contemporary Problems, 1/2016, 1-36.
Alter, Karen J., The European Court’s Political Power: Selected Essays, Oxford 2009.
Alter, Karen J., The New Terrain of International Law: Courts, Politics, Rights, Princeton-Oxford 2014.
Amaza, Ishaya Paul, "Multiplicity of International Dispute Settlement Forums: Avoiding the Risk of Parallel Proceedings," Dispute Resolution International, 2/2012, 149-160.
Capps, Patrick, Olsen, Henrik (eds.), Legal Authority beyond the State, Cambridge 2018.
D'Alterio, Elisa, “From Judicial Comity to Legal Comity: A Judicial Solution to Global Disorder”, Symposium: The New Public Law in a Global Dis(Order) - A Perspective from Italy, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2/2011, 394-424.
De Wet, Erika, “From Kadi to Nada: Judicial Techniques Favouring Human Rights over United Nations Security Council Sanctions", Chinese Journal of International Law, 4/2013, 787-808.
Đajić, Sanja, „The Achmea Cases – Story on Treaty Interpretation, Forum Competition and International Law Fragmentation”, Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Novom Sadu, 2/2018, 491-509.
Đajić, Sanja, Međunarodni i nacionalni sudovi: od sukoba do saradnje, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Novom Sadu, Novi Sad, 2003.
Đajić, Sanja, Međunarodno pravosuđe, Službeni glasnik, Beograd, 2012.
Etinski, Rodoljub, „Individualne sankcije Saveta bezbednosti Ujedinjenih nacija i zaštita ljudskih prava“, Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Novom Sadu, 3/2010, 79-92.
Finke, Jasper, “Competing Jurisdiction of International Courts and Tribunals in Light of the MOX Plant Dispute”, German Yearbook of International Law, 2006, 307-326.
Grossman, Nienke, et al. (eds.), Legitimacy and International Courts, Cambridge 2018.
Kelemen, Roger Daniel, “The Political Foundations of Judicial Independence in the European Union”, Journal of European Public Policy, 1/2012, 43-58.
Langford, Malcolm et al. (eds.), Special Issue: UNCITRAL and Investment Arbitration Reform: Matching Concerns and Solutions, The Journal of World Investment & Trade, 2-3/ 2020.
Langford, Malcolm, Behn, Daniel, “Managing Backlash: The Evolving Investment Treaty Arbitrator?” European Journal of International Law, 2/2018, 551–580.
Lavranos, Nikolaos, “Epilogue in the MOX Plant Dispute: An End without Findings“, European Energy and Environmental Law Review, 3/2009, 180-184.
Lukić, Maja, „Autoritet suda EU ispred pravne sigurnosti – presuda MOX“, Anali Pravnog fakulteta u Beogradu, 1/2013, 223-248.
Roben, Volker, "The Order of the UNCLOS Annex VII Arbitral Tribunal to Suspend Proceedings in the Case of the MOX Plant at Sellafield: How Much Jurisdictional Subsidiarity," Nordic Journal of International Law 73, 2/2004, 223-246.
Schultz, Thomas, Ridi, Niccolo, “Comity and International Courts and Tribunals”, Cornell International Law Journal, 3/2017, 577-610.
Slaughter, Anne-Marie, “Court to Court”, American Journal of International Law, 4/1998, 708-712.
Sornarajah, Mutchuruswamy, Resistance and Change in the International Law on Foreign Investment, Cambridge 2015.
Stanivuković, Maja, Pojedinac pred Sudom Evropskih zajednica, Službeni glasnik, Beograd, 2007.
von Bogdandy, Armin, Ingo Venzke, “In Whose Name? An Investigation of International Courts’ Public Authority and Its Democratic Justification”, European Journal of International Law, 1/2012, 7-41.
Voon, Tania, Mitchell, Andrew D., “Denunciation, Termination and Survival: The Interplay of Treaty Law and International Investment Law”, ICSID Review, 2/2016, 413–433.
Worster, William Thomas, “Competition and Comity in the Fragmentation of International Law”, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 1/2008, 119-150.