"Concurrence of Jurisdiction between the ECJ and other international courts and tribunals"

Lavranos, Nikolaos. (2005) "Concurrence of Jurisdiction between the ECJ and other international courts and tribunals". In: UNSPECIFIED, Austin, Texas. (Unpublished)

	Plain Text Download (176Kb)
	Microsoft Word Download (266Kb)

Abstract

[From the Introduction]. The relevance of this topic stems from two parallel developments that currently take place on the international as well as European law level. On the international law level we are witnessing an undisputable explosion of the creation of international courts and tribunals endowed with jurisdiction to deal with certain areas of international law or to settle specific disputes, as well as an increase in the willingness of states to use these courts. Reference can be made to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) etc. This development is spurred by the globalisation of political, legal and economic relations between states as well as the increasing involvement of other actors such as international organisations, multinationals and individuals on the international plane. This proliferation of international courts and tribunals can essentially lead into two opposing developments. Either the proliferation leads to an increased density of international law which in turn contributes to the institutionalization and perhaps even constitutionalization of international law. Or the proliferation can lead to the fragmentation of international law due to the lack of hierarchy and coordination between the various international courts and tribunals and their decisions.... On the basis of the premises outlined above, the following section II will discuss two developments in international law in more detail. First, the aspect of institutionalization of international law and second, the danger of fragmentation of international law. Section III will turn to the developments in European law. In particular, this section will analyze the precise extend of the jurisdiction of the ECJ in regard to international law, the jurisprudence of the ECJ on international law issues and its effect on the competence of the EC Member States to utilize dispute resolution mechanisms outside the EC Treaty. Section IV will then discuss the consequences of the concurrence of jurisdiction, while section V will wrap the discussion by presenting a number of possible solutions. As a caveat, it should be emphasized that in this paper I will not deal with arbitration proceedings involving private parties and their relationship with Community law and international law.

Actions (login required)