The United Nations Charter as the Constitution of the International Community

✍ Scribed by Bardo Fassbender

• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 229
• Series: Legal Aspects of International Organization 51
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The 'constitutionalization' of international law is one of the most intensely debated issues in contemporary international legal doctrine. The term is used to describe a number of features which distinguish the present international legal order from 'classical' international law, in particular its shift from bilateralism to community interest, and from an inter-state system to a global legal order committed to the well-being of the individual person. The author of this book belongs to the leading participants of the constitutionalization debate. He argues that there indeed exists a constitutional law of the international community that is built on and around the Charter of the United Nations. In this book, he explains why the Charter has a constitutional quality and what legal consequences arise from that characterization.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
The UN Charter in Constitutional Perspective......Page 14
The Structure of my Argument......Page 22
1. 'Constitution', and its Association with the Modern State......Page 26
Constitutional Theory in Europe between the two World Wars......Page 27
American Constitutional Theory: The Constitution as 'Higher Law' and as a 'Living Institution'......Page 32
Typical Constitutional Features......Page 35
2. The Transfer of the Constitutional Idea to the Sphere of International Law: Diff erent Approaches......Page 40
Alfred Verdross and his School......Page 41
The New Haven School......Page 49
The Doctrine of International Community......Page 54
Constructivism......Page 63
3. The International Community and its Constitution......Page 65
A Challenged Notion......Page 68
The Traditional Dichotomy between 'The International' and 'The Constitutional'......Page 71
International Community and International Constitution......Page 77
The International Community as a Constitutional Community......Page 84
International Community, Constitution, and Organization......Page 87
4. The UN Charter as a Constitution......Page 90
The Charter and Non-UN Member States: Doctrinal Defi cits......Page 91
The 'Ideal Type' of a Constitution as a Standard of Comparison......Page 95
A 'Constitutional Moment'......Page 99
A 'Charter'......Page 101
Constituent Power and Constitutional Form......Page 103
A System of Governance......Page 107
Defi nition of Membership......Page 114
Hierarchy of Norms......Page 116
'Eternity' and Amendment......Page 120
Universality and the Problem of Sovereignty......Page 122
The Normative and the Real Constitution of the International Community......Page 129
Constitutional Law and 'General International Law'......Page 131
'Constitutional By-Laws' of the International Community......Page 135
Constitutional Law, Jus Cogens, and Obligations Erga Omnes......Page 136
6. Consequences......Page 142
The Charter as a Living Instrument......Page 143
Constitutional Interpretation......Page 144
Constitutional Amendment......Page 149
Freedom and Restraint of Security Council Reform......Page 158
Non-Member States......Page 160
Legal Persons Other than States as Addressees of Security Council Decisions......Page 161
Admission and Expulsion of UN Member States......Page 163
Constitutional Discourses Past and Present......Page 172
Rediscovering a Constitution......Page 181
Synopsis......Page 186
Bibliography......Page 202
Index......Page 218