A Unified Theory of International Law, the State, and the Individual: Transnational Legal Harmonization in the Context of Economic and Legal Globalization

Authors

James D. Wilets, Nova Southeastern University - Shepard Broad Law CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2010

Abstract

This Article presents an original theory of international law which reconciles the norm-making processes occurring at the international, state, and individual levels. It is the central thesis of this paper that economic globalization is not happening in a vacuum, but it is rather engendering legal globalization, much in the way that centralized regulation followed trans-state economic globalization within the United States and Europe.

Traditional definitions of international law do not address this phenomenon and consider these new forms of transnational norm creation as simply exceptions to the general rule that international law is created by nation-states within the framework of multinational institutions. This Article addresses this serious shortcoming in our current definition and understanding of international law and the manner in which it is created.

Publication Title

University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law

Publication Title (Abbreviation)

U. PA. J. INT'L. L.

First Page

753

NSUWorks Citation

James D. Wilets, A Unified Theory of International Law, the State, and the Individual: Transnational Legal Harmonization in the Context of Economic and Legal Globalization, 31 U. PA. J. INT'L. L. 753 (2010),
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/law_facarticles/272