Jillions, Andrew
(2012)
From faith in rules to the rule of law: constitutional responsibilities in international society.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
This thesis examines the constitutional politics of international law, locating this as part of a wider debate over the nature of responsibility in conditions of uncertainty. Despite a general commitment to international legality operating in international society, international law’s claim to rule is limited by competing beliefs about the institutional practices generated and legitimated by this commitment. This thesis argues that there is a critical divide between “pragmatic” and “constitutionalist” ethics of legality. The account of legality developed here suggests that faith is itself a necessary and useful strategy for
responding to social uncertainty and, to the extent that the institution of international law can generate this faith, a constitutional ethic cannot be dismissed as quickly or easily as pragmatists suppose. This claim is further developed through illustrating how this constitutional ethic of legality has begun to shape the politics surrounding the prohibition on torture, the governance of the global commons, the legitimacy of peacebuilding, and
the regulation of the use of force.
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