What gives law life?  What animates it, and in so doing warrants the claim that law contributes to the production of social order in a particular community?  In an article just published in the Hague Yearbook of International Law, I argue that law lives, or exists, only in those societies where law rules, and law rules only when the exercise of political power is conducted under the supervision of lawyers, agents for whom realizing the rule of law is a calling or vocation.  Even more  surprisingly, I contend that the most prominent proponent of this account of law in the field of international law and legal theory is Martti Koskenniemi.

For a link to the article, please click on the Scholarship tab above.  Comments welcome!

I’m pleased to share that “Legality Beyond the State,” my contribution to a symposium on transnational legal and political theory, has just been published in the Buffalo Law Review. To read an abstract or download the article (published Open Access), please click on the ‘Scholarship’ link above.

Just out this week – two new articles in which I argue for a sceptical take on the international rule of law. “A New Philosophy for International Legal Skepticism,” has been published in International Theory, and “Between a Rock-Hard Reality and a Pious Wish Place: Postema on the Rule of Law Beyond Borders” appears in the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law.

You can find abstracts and links to both articles (published Open Access) on the Scholarship page of this website – please click the link above. Comments welcome!

Having trouble sleeping?  Check out this video of my presentation on state consent and the legitimacy of international law at the College de France!