woman with camera

"International law is gaining ground, in spite of everything"

Published: 01st October 2015 Last updated: 01st May 2019

Press Release 1 Oct. 2015 - International law is often an inadequate tool to address complex global problems, like the ongoing civil war in Syria. However, we fail to do justice to the United Nations and international law if we zoom in only on the dark chapters in history.

A worldwide civilization process is underway in which the UN and international law are indispensable ‘in spite of everything’. This was argued by Professor of International Law Willem van Genugten during his valedictory speech at Tilburg University.

There is great tension between international law and the realities of important global issues. For instance, why has no large military intervention been undertaken in Syria, either inside or outside the framework of the Security Council? Syria is a new dark chapter in international law, after Somalia, Rwanda, and Srebrenica, among other places.

However, the United Nations should not be judged by these dark chapters alone, Van Genugten argues. They must be faced up to, it is true, but it must be borne in mind that the UN do not have supranational power in most issues. The organization belongs to its members and is dependent on these members, and therefore also on the political forces at play. The power of the law must not be overestimated. At the same time, the challenge is not to denounce a whole spectrum of states and to point out the inevitable ‘bad guys’, but to face reality and to work from there to ‘make the best of a bad situation’.

Progress on balance

The legal approach to global issues has definitely resulted in progress in many areas, for instance, the World Trade Organization. With the exception of the Doha Round, it has largely been a success story.

The same goes for the way in which crimes against humanity have been addressed: almost twenty former heads of state and government leaders are or have been in prison for crimes which they thought they could commit with impunity. On the other hand, this has triggered a counter-movement ‘because international law was coming too close to home’, Van Genugten says. As with the WTO, it is a matter of two steps forward and one step back. On balance, there is progress, according to Van Genugten, although it would be nice if things moved along a bit faster. Counter-reactions show that important things are at stake and are necessary to be able to make further progress.

During his valedictory address, Van Genugten also presented three theoretical concepts: 1) International law is winning ground at the expense of crass power politics, with which it forms a system of communicating vessels. 2) The world is heading towards a social contract of states, businesses, and NGOs, with a number of binding international law standards as ‘guiding stars’. 3) Human rights are permeating other areas of international law (the ‘humanization of the international legal order’). It requires some optimism to see things this way but a long-term perspective helps to look beyond today’s misery, says Van Genugten.

Sovereignty

It is crucial, in Van Genugten’s opinion, to consider the questions underlying the deficiencies of international law, the most important being to what extent states today are truly sovereign. Van Genugten: ‘Sovereignty is thrown into relief by its context and by cooperation in addressing problems. With many issues, everything else is merely helpless floundering.’

Prof. W.J.M. (Willem) van Genugten (b. 1950) has been Professor of International Law at Tilburg University since 1996. In 2012 he was awarded a Doctorate honoris causa by the North-West University in South Africa, where has been Extraordinary Professor of International Law since 2008. In addition, he holds various posts including that of Chair of the Royal Netherlands Society of International Law, since 2011, Chair of the (Dutch) Knowledge Platform Security and the Rule of Law, since 2013; member of the Executive Council International Law Association (since 2011); and Chair of the Committee on the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (International Law Association, since 2013). He published extensively on the interplay between separate fields of international law, on linking legal approaches to other disciplines (esp. economics, international relations, development studies, and a touch of history and legal philosophy); and on the multitude of ‘players’ in the international (legal) ‘arena’, in all cases taking care of what has been reached and what still has to be done.

 

 

Note for editors

For more information please contact press officer Corine Schouten, tel. +31 13 466 2993 / email c.h.schouten@tilburguniversity.edu.