Towards an International Legal Community? The Sovereignty of States And the Sovereignty of International Law

In this collection of essays, a number of the UK's leading international legal theorists consider whether, in light of contemporary legal, economic and political challenges which the State faces, State sovereignty can continue to be viewed meaningfully as a legal principle, the legitimacy of which is generated merely by the factual condition of a State's existence; or whether in fact the international legal system is now better viewed as a self-generating and increasingly sovereign force, founded upon an incipient 'international legal community' which has in large measure redefined State sovereignty as a lower order principle both contingent upon and attenuated by the normative authority inherent in this nascent 'community'. Can we now speak of international law as an embryonic 'quasi-constitutional' system, generated by an international legal community? If so, has this community, although finding its historical origins in the aggregated will of States, assumed a new and immanently generated legitimacy which is no longer dependent upon State consent for its validity and authority? The book brings together scholars from the ILA (British Branch) Committee on Theory and International Law and is the result of ongoing work since 2002 involving seminars and conferences at Edinburgh University; Corpus Christi College, Oxford; and LSE.Warbrick, Colin is the author of 'Towards an International Legal Community? The Sovereignty of States And the Sovereignty of International Law', published 2006 under ISBN 9780903067799 and ISBN 090306779X.