How interpretation makes international law : on semantic change and normative twists / Ingo Venzke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Venzke, Ingo, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International law--Interpretation and construction.

International law.

International law--Language.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (804 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Challenging the classic narrative that sovereign states make the law that constrains them, this book argues that treaties and other sources of international law form only the starting point of legal authority. Interpretation can shift the meaning of texts and, in its own way, make law. In the practice of interpretation actors debate the meaning of the written and customary laws, and so contribute to the making of new law. In such cases it is the actor's semantic authority that iskey - the capacity for their interpretation to be accepted and become established as new reference points for legal

Contents:

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Dedication 1; Acknowledgements; Contents; Table of Cases; List of Abbreviations; I. In the Beginning was the Deed; Problématique; Agenda; Programme; II. The Practice of Interpretation: A Theoretical Perspective; A. Lawmaking in communicative practice; 1. On the sources of international law; 2. Sovereignty, sources, and semantic change; 3. From sources to communicative practice; B. Semantic struggles in the practice of legal interpretation; 1. Practice between agency and structure; 2. On the form and substance of legal interpretation

3. Power and authority in semantic strugglesC. Actors in the practice of interpretation; 1. Private norm entrepreneurs; 2. The disaggregated state; 3. International institutions: Bureaucracies and judicial bodies; III. UNHCR and the Making of Refugee Law; A. International bureaucracies as actors in legal discourse; 1. Delegation from principals to agents; 2. The authority of international bureaucracies; B. The expansion of UNHCR's Statute; 1. Expectations and concerns; 2. International protection and humble beginnings; 3. Material assistance, good offices, and displaced persons

4. Humanitarian aid and voluntary repatriationC. UNHCR and the meaning of the Convention; 1. UNHCR's role in developing the Convention; 2. Semantic change at work: Shifting elements in the meaning of 'refugee'; D. Conclusions: Change and contexts; IV. Adjudication in the GATT/WTO: Making General Exceptions in Trade Law; A. International adjudicators as actors in legal discourse; 1. Historiography: Longing for international adjudication; 2. Judicial decisions and precedents; 3. The GATT/WTO context; B. Article XX in the era of the GATT; 1. General exceptions: A general prologue

2. The creation of a high threshold3. A territorial limitation?; C. Article XX in the era of the WTO; 1. Institutional changes and the working of precedents; 2. A new beginning with the Appellate Body; 3. Proportionality, interpretation, and legitimacy; D. Conclusions: Adjudication, precedents, and legitimacy; V. Creative Interpretations: Normative Twists; A. The bittersweet taste of justice in legal discourse; 1. Narratives of progress and advents of justice; 2. Scepticism and realism; 3. The practice of interpretation and communicative action

B. The centrality of law: Dissonances and developments in legal doctrine1. The appeal and futility of soft law; 2. Intertemporal law and subsequent practice: shortening the leash?; 3. Global administrative law and international public authority; C. Evasive foundations: Semantic authority in a normative pluriverse; 1. Principles of democracy and ultimate authority; 2. Architectural renovation and institutional design; 3. Attitudes and interpretation at critical junctures; VI. Epilogue: In the End there is Eternity; Bibliography; Index; Footnotes

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-174222-8

0-19-175311-4

1-283-71272-5

0-19-163196-5

0-19-163195-7

OCLC:

818851575