Date: 24Sep 2019
Kant famously elaborated a blueprint for the achievement of Perpetual Peace. But eliminating war among states was just one step toward the construction of constitutional justice a the transnational – or cosmopolitan – level. The first part of the lecture is devoted to Kantian constitutional theory as it pertains to the development of international human rights, The second part examines the various ways in which Kantian theory helps us to understand the emergence and consolidation of a cosmopolitan legal order, a transnational legal system in which: (i) justiciable rights are held by individuals; (ii) public officials bear the obligation to fulfil the fundamental rights of all who come within the scope of their jurisdiction; and (iii) domestic and transnational judges supervise hoe officials do so. Such an order emerged in Europe, with the combined effects of Protocol no. 11 (1998) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the incorporation of the Convention as judicially-enforceable into national law. Today, the European Court of Human Rights is the single most active and important rights-protecting court in the world, helping to construct a nascent cosmopolitan constitution.
Speaker:
Alec Stone Sweet is the Saw Swee Hock Centennial Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore.
