Theories of International Responsibility Law
Résumé
There is no issue more central to a legal order than responsibility. To that extent, the dearth of contemporary theorizing on international responsibility law should worry us about the state of international law. So should the little attention given to the law on the international responsibility of States and international organizations by contemporary political and legal philosophers of responsibility.
The present volume brings philosophers of the law of responsibility into a dialogue with international responsibility law specialists. In doing so, it hopes to lay the groundwork for a new field of research in the philosophy of international law. The volume’s tripartite structure corresponds to three theoretical challenges: the public and private nature of the international responsibility of public institutions, its collective and individual dimensions, and the place of fault therein. In each part, two international lawyers and two philosophers of responsibility law address what they take to be the most pressing questions in the theory of international responsibility law. The volume closes with a comparative “world tour” of the responsibility of public institutions in four different legal cultures and regions of the world, identifying stepping stones and stumbling blocks on the path towards a common law of international responsibility.