COURSE MANUAL

Law and Justice in a Globalizing World

Fall 2021
(AY 2021-22)

Eunomia: The Goddess of Law, Good Order, and Justice

Course Coordinator

 Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith S.G., Professor and Executive Dean

Professors
 Prof. (Dr.) B.S. Chimni, Distinguished Professor of International Law (Section A)
 Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith S.G., Professor and Executive Dean (Section A)
 Prof. (Dr.) Jasmeet Gulati, Professor and Vice Dean (Examinations) (Sections B
and C)
 Prof. Wenjuan Zhang, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Section B)
 Prof. (Dr.) Kasim Balarabe, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Section D)
 Prof. (Dr.) Williams Iheme, Associate Professor (Section E)

Assistants

 Ms. Trupti Panigrahi, Assistant Lecturer (Section A)

 Prof. Sandrine D. Herdt, Assistant Professor (Section C)
 Mr. Shoaib Latif Khan, Assistant Lecturer (Sections D and E)

PART I
 GENERAL INFORMATION

General Information on, “Law and Justice in a Globalizing World”, offered

by the Jindal Global Law School
of the AY 2021-22
The information provided herein is by the Course Coordinator (Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith
S.G.). The following information contains the official record of the details of the course.

This information shall form part of the University database and may be
uploaded to the KOHA Library system and catalogued and may be
distributed amongst LL.M. students if necessary.

Course
Title: Law and Justice in a Globalizing World
Course
Code:
Course
Duration: One Semester
No. of Credit
Units: 3
Level::
: Postgraduate
Medium of
Instruction: English
Law and Justice in a Globalizing World
Reimagining the Role of International Law in a New World Order

LLM Fall Semester 2021

Course Instructors:

1. Prof. (Dr.) B.S. Chimni

Email: [email protected]
2. Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith S.G.
Email: [email protected]
3. Prof. Dr. Jasmeet Gulati
Email: [email protected]
4. Prof. Wenjuan Zhang
Email: [email protected]
5. Prof. (Dr.) Kasim Balarabe
Email: [email protected]
6. Prof. (Dr.) Williams Iheme
Email: [email protected]

Course Assistants:

1. Ms. Trupti Panigrahi

Email: [email protected]
2. Prof. Sandrine D. Herdt
Email: [email protected]
3. Shoaib Latif Khan
Email: [email protected]

II. Course Overview and Aims

People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum,

and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but
who shall command the skylark not to sing?

— “Laws”, Khalil
Gibran

The course Law and Justice in Globalizing World is based on the experience that
globalization is an ongoing, continuous, and complex process which transforms all
walks of life and all human artefacts. Globalization has led society into new existence
and experiences. International law is the law of that global society thanks to its
transnational character and universalist consciousness. However, for international law
to have become the law of the global society, it had to re-organize itself from its classical
form. This re-organization is a complex process, which poses challenges to the
normative foundations of international law.
So as to understand that re-organization—the new international law—this course goes
on to analyze globalization. It creates a historical, phenomenological, and
epistemological framework to appreciate the causal forces which has put the world into
a globalizing mode. The framework also helps to delve deep into the dynamics of
globalization so as to understand how it works in the various chosen “sites” of
globalization through the relevant players. In this process one can witness the
resurgence of market, virtually threatening the existing imaginations.
This analytical standpoint provides means to see the role of international law in an
increasingly globalizing world. Questions are asked on whether international law and
international institutions—the means of globalization—sufficiently support or take into
account concerns like human rights which were once at the heart of international law.
Have they been re-invented or have they been wiped out in the surge of markets,
developmental priorities, and trade and economic interests? If international law is the
law of the global society, what is role of state in a global society? What is global justice in
global society? What are the means through which global justice is achieved? How it
makes human life better in the world?
The course is divided into three units:
Part I provides an overview of the theory and practice of globalization. It lays emphasis
on the phenomenological, spatio-temporal, and socio-economic aspects of globalization.
Then the course will introduce students to concepts that make public international law
the instrument of global ordering and reordering and thereby the law of the globalizing
society. This is done by making salient the shift from the old normative order which
international law was to its postmodernist forms, the new international law.
Part II will examine the transformation more carefully by studying the doctrines of
international law and its functioning. This is predicated on the fact that despite the
challenges posed by the transformation, international law has re-imagined many of its
concepts— the source doctrine, state sovereignty, state responsibility, state recognition,
and state jurisdiction—finding newer meanings in newer contexts, providing
international law a global character, rendering it the law of global societies. However,
despite the renewalist efforts, international law still remains reducible to its formal
sources, often creating an indeterminacy by a push-pull between classicism and
modernism. This is obvious in the practice of international law.
Part III first aims to throw light on the various notions of justice and the changing
conceptions of justice as the global consciousness expands and the material world
contracts in the process of globalization. Then particular emphasis will be laid on
whether current state of international legal system can be an effective tool to promote
economic, social and cultural rights and thus social justice in a globalizing world, and
will consider the circumstances under which these international legal norms operate
with reference to regulation of transnational corporations, corporate actions resulting in
human rights and environmental (in) justices, building on frameworks identified in Part
II of the course, and will further consolidate with discussions relating to theoretical,
legal and institutional issues of notion of global justice and its implementation. The
central idea of the course is to explore how international law in its present form will
bring about or impede global justice.
Students will in particular be encouraged to develop a developing countries perspective.
The contents of the course as well as readings are subject to change.
III. Teaching Method, Section A (class specific)
The course combines reading groups, lectures, and discussions. Every module will be
introduced by the instructor through lectures or a base-material (a research paper or
excerpt from a book/article or a video for home-watching). In case of the reading group,
the instructor will design discursive pattern for the group mindful of the nature of the
module. Whether the method is a reading group or lecture, the base-material (in case of
lectures it will be PPTs) will be made available to the participants as homework-
material.

There will be a second-round lecture/discussion on the homeworked-material wherein

the instructor will try to epistemologically situate the entire module as a polemical
component of an existing discourse. The idea is to situate a certain
event/development/doctrine, giving it a certain character in relation to what is deemed
as contemporaneity in international law and relations.

IV. Reading list

Students are expected to read the required reading-material before each class.
Mandatory readings will be sent by the instructor. Suggested readings can be accessed
from the library or they can be accessed online.

Plagiarism (class-specific policy)

Plagiarism, in any form, will be least tolerated. Participants of the course, if found guilty
of plagiarism, will be subject to disciplinary action as per the relevant university policy.
To avoid plagiarism, the instructor recommends the following:

1. Acknowledge by way of a citation whatever is borrowed

2. Put in quotation any sentence in which more than 12 words are in a sequence
3. To the maximum extent possible, paraphrase others ideas and then acknowledge
them through citations
4. Make all borrowings, which are more than 50 words in a sequence, into a block
quote

However,
5. Copying lines (more than 12 words in a sequence) or passages from other sources,
not citing them, and writing the name of the source as reference in the end of the
paper will be deemed plagiarism
 6. After copying lines in which there are more than 12 words in a sequence and
providing a citation at the end of a line or paragraph will also be deemed
plagiarism
7. Copying others assignment, though they are original, will be considered
plagiarism

Cell Phones

Use of cell phones is strictly prohibited during the class. In case participants happen to
have them at hand, they shall be kept switched off or in-flight mode.

Laptops and Similar Gadgets (not applicable for online classes)

Participants can use laptops in the classroom for accessing the reading materials and
other learning-related purposes. However, such gadgets shall in no case be used for
purposes other than learning related. In no case social networking sites, emails, etc.
shall be access in the classroom.

V. Assessment (class specific)

The marks for this course will be given as follows:

A. Reaction Paper (20%):
Students are required to write a reaction paper as a response to the ideas expressed
through the course. The purpose of this exercise is based on an understanding that
globalization is experienced individually and collectively. The theory of globalization
taught through this course will help students relate their experiences of globalization
and situate them in a framework of understanding. Similarly, as students understand
the transformation of international law and the causal forces behind the same, they will
be able to relate their understanding of international law, and its application thereof,
with the new international law.
Guidelines
 Should be made based on a module
 Should be in the form of a response to a general or particular idea conveyed
through the module
 Standard length of the paper should be 1000 words (excluding footnotes, if
any)
 The paper should have ideas arising out of one’s understanding of the module
 The ideas expressed in the paper should be relatable to established
discourses; they cannot be random or loosely hanging views. There shall be no
reliance on conspiracy theories.
 Academic language should be used in the paper
 Quotes and block-block quotes, if needed, can be used sparingly
 Examples can be used
B. Research Paper (50%)
The research paper is meant to test to what extent the knowledge acquired through the
course can be analyzed and put in context by students. “Analysis” means using the
knowledge to make an idea and organize arguments around that idea. Students are
strongly encouraged to research and write on topics related to their specializations by
applying inputs/information from this course. Students will be assessed based on to
what extent their research provides a “perspective” or a “point of departure” or a
“critical intervention” to their respective area of specialization.
Guidelines
 Original, well-researched papers
 The discourse should be built around a central thesis
 Arguments should be drawn on standard sources
 Arguments should be drawn on established discourses
 Standard length of the paper is 2500 to 3000 words including footnotes
 All research papers should have an abstract summarizing the paper

Endterm Examination (30%): They will be an end-semester take-home

theory examination for all participants of the course who have successfully
completed the course work. Endterm examination will have application-based
questions. It tests whether students can apply their knowledge in a factual or
hypothetical situation.
To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 40% of total course
marks.

Grading of Student Achievement 1

To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 40% in the

cumulative aspects of coursework, e.g. moot, and final examination. End of
semester exam will carry 50 marks out of which students have to obtain a
minimum of 15 marks to fulfil the requirement of passing the course.
The details of the grades as well as the criteria for awarding such grades are provided
below.
Letter Percentage Grade Definitions
Grade of marks
O 80% and above Outstanding Outstanding
work with strong
1 Under extraordinary circumstances, the JGU Academic Council or the JGU Deans’ Council can suspend Student
Grading of Achievement or make it optional. If Student Grading of Achievement is suspended, the policy which
will be framed by the School based on the decision of the said bodies will supersede Student Grading of
Achievement. However, whether a situation is extraordinary or not will be decided by the said bodies only.
 evidence of
knowledge of the
subject matter,
excellent
organizational
capacity, ability
to synthesize and
critically analyze
and originality in
thinking and
presentation.
A+ 75 to 79.75% Excellent Sound knowledge
of the subject
matter, thorough
understanding of
issues; ability to
synthesize
critically and
analyze
A 70 to 74.75% Good Good
understanding of
the subject
matter, ability to
identify issues
and provide
balanced
solutions to
problems and
good critical and
analytical skills.
A- 65 to 69.75% Adequate Adequate
knowledge of the
subject matter to
go to the next
level of study and
reasonable
critical and
analytical skills.
B+ 60 to 64.75% Marginal Limited
knowledge of the
subject matter,
irrelevant use of
materials and
poor critical and
analytical skills.
B 55 to 59.75% Poor Poor
comprehension
 of the subject
matter; poor
critical and
analytical skills
and marginal use
of the relevant
materials.
B- 50 to 54.75% Pass “Pass” in a pass-
fail course. “P”
indicative of at
least the basic
understanding of
the subject
matter.

NEW COURSE LETTER GRADES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION 

Letter
Percentage Grade
Grad Interpretation  
of Marks Points
e
Pass 1: Pass with Basic understanding of
P1 45 - 49 2
the subject matter.
Pass 2: Pass with Rudimentary
P2  40 - 44 1
understanding of the subject matter.
Fail: Poor comprehension of the subject
matter; poor critical and analytical skills
F Below 40 0 and marginal use of the relevant
materials. Will require repeating the
course.
‘P’ represents the option of choosing
between Pass/Fail grading system over
the CGPA grading system in the COVID
19 semester in Spring 2020. The option is
P Pass  
provided when students attain a
minimum of 40 percentage marks under
the current grading structure in a given
subject. 
Extenuating circumstances preventing
the student from completing coursework
assessment, or taking the examination; or
where the Assessment Panel at its
I Incomplete   discretion assigns this grade. If
an "I" grade is assigned, the Assessment
Panel will suggest a schedule for the
completion of work, or a supplementary
examination. 
 VI. Institutional Policies
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Learning and knowledge production of any kind is a collaborative process. Collaboration
demands an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we have learnt from, what we
have learned, and how reading and learning from others have helped us shape our own
ideas. Even our own ideas demand an acknowledgement of the sources and processes
through which those ideas have emerged. Thus, all ideas must be supported by citations.
All ideas borrowed from articles, books, journals, magazines, case laws, statutes,
photographs, films, paintings, etc., in print or online, must be credited with the original
source. If the source or inspiration of your idea is a friend, a casual chat, something that
you overheard, or heard being discussed at a conference or in class, even they must be
duly credited. If you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source in the examination,
presentation or essays, the source must be acknowledged. The university has a
framework to deal with cases of plagiarism. All form of plagiarism will be taken
seriously by the University and prescribed sanctions will be imposed on those who
commit plagiarism.
Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements
JGU endeavors to make all its courses accessible to students. All students with any
known disability needing academic accommodation are required to register with the
Disability Support Committee [email protected]. The Committee has so far identified the
following conditions that could possibly hinder student’s overall well-being. These
include: physical and mobility related difficulties; visual impairment; hearing
impairment; medical conditions; specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia; mental
health.
The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality on the matters under
its purview. Students should preferably register with the Committee during the month
of June/January as disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will
coordinate all disability related services such as appointment of academic mentors,
arranging infrastructural facilities, and course related requirements such as special
lectures, tutorials and examinations.
All faculty members are requested to refer students with any of the above-mentioned
conditions to the Disability Support Committee for getting them disability-related
accommodation. Faculty members are also requested to be sensitive to the needs of such
students and cooperate with Disability Support Committee and the School, extending
students the necessary support by maintaining utmost confidentiality of the matter.
Safe Space Pledge
This course may discuss a range of issues and events that might result in distress for
some students. Discussions in the course might also provoke strong emotional
responses. To make sure that all students collectively benefit from the course, and do
not feel disturbed due to either the content of the course or the conduct of the
discussions. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all within the classroom to pledge to
maintain respect towards our peers. This does not mean that you need to feel restrained
about what you feel and what you want to say. Conversely, this is about creating a safe
space where everyone can speak and learn without inhibitions and fear. This
responsibility lies not only with students, but also with the instructor.
P.S. The course instructor, as part of introducing the course manual, will discuss the
scope of the Safe Space Pledge with the class.
PART VII: WEEKLY PLAN
Week 1 to 3: The Concept of Globalization
While globalization is understood as an expansion, interconnection, and intensifying of
human activities—liberalizing economies and internationalizing human relations—it is
also a phenomenological process which has transformed human condition. If the latter,
side of globalization, and perhaps the truer, has to be understood, one has to invest faith
in the spatio-temporal dynamics/dimension of globalization. However, globalization is
also a fact—a manifestation of the newly defined time-space equation. Such an approach
would help us appreciate, rather than getting overwhelmed, by challenges posed by
globalization.
In this scheme of things, some of the pertinent questions to be asked include: Has
space-time been an effective analytic, beyond a metaphor, to understand the forces of
globalization and in addressing global problems? Has space-time been an effective
analytic, beyond a metaphor, in understanding the forces of globalization and in
addressing global problems? What is the ideology of globalization? What are the
ideological resistance to globalization? Has market interest become a mindset? How is
it in contrast to common interest? What is the role of Transnational Capitalist Class in
globalization? Of what utility are the various “sites” of globalization? What
transformation has happened to the form and substance of law in globalization?
Topics
 Globalization: The Landscape: What is it conceptually? What is it in theory?
What is it in practice?
 The Role of Markets in Globalization
 Major players in a globalizing world
 “Sites” of globalization
 Globalization as it is in law—a rights-based perspective
Key questions:
Reading Group/s
Sheppard, Eric, The Spaces and Times of Globalization: Place, Scale, Networks,
and Positionality, 78 ECON. GEOGRAPHY 307 (2002).
Reading List (Selected)
Chimni, B.S., International Institutions Today: An Imperial Global State in the
Making, 15 EUR. J. INT’L L. 1 (2004).
 Chimni, B.S., Prolegomena to a Class Approach to International Law, 21 EUR. J.
INT’L L. 57 (2010).

FLIGSTEIN, NEIL, MARKETS, POLITICS, AND GLOBALIZATION (1997).

FLIGSTEIN, NEIL, THE ARCHITECTURE OF MARKETS: AN ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY OF

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CAPITALIST SOCIETIES (2003).

Fligstein, Neil, The Sociology of Markets, 33 ANNUAL REV. SOCIOLOGY 6.1 (2007).

FORD, JANE, SOCIAL THEORY OF THE WTO: TRADING CULTURES (2003).

HARARI, YUVAL NOAH, 21 LESSON FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (2018)

Kennedy, David, Law and the Political Economy of the World, 26 LEIDEN J. INT’L
L. 7 (2013).

Kleber, Marco, “The Metaphysics of Globalization in Heidegger”, in THE

PHILOSOPHY OF GLOBALIZATION (Concha Roldan, Daniel Brauer, and Johannes
Rohbeck, eds., 2018).

Li, Victor, What’s in a Name? Questioning Globalization, 45 CULTURAL CRITIQUE

1 (2000)

Sheppard, Eric, The Spaces and Times of Globalization: Place, Scale, Networks,
and Positionality, 78 ECON. GEOGRAPHY 307 (2002).

Sreejith, S.G. Public International Law and the WTO: A Reckoning of Legal
Positivism and Neoliberalism, 9 SAN DIEGO INT’L L. J. 5 (2007).

SREEJITH, S.G., TRANSCENDING JURISPRUDENCE: A CRITIQUE OF THE

ARCHITECTONICS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (2010).

Wendt, Alexander, Social Theory as Cartesian Science: An Auto-Critique from a

Quantum Perspective, available at http://www.english.kamus-
quantum.com/resources/Auto-Critique.pdf

Week 4 to 6: Role of International Law in Globalization: What is

International Law? (Some Evolutionary and Existential Questions)

International law has become the law of the global society—a society characterized by
pluralities, heterogeneity, cosmopolitanism, transnational interactions, and governance.
In becoming the law of globalizing societies, international law has undergone a self-
transformation—in fact an “ontological transformation”, a silent revolution—
reimagining its base, structures, and the core which has manifest changes in the surface
level—in institutions, decision-making, and in dispute settlement.
The tale of the self-transformation of international law is a tale that can only be told
through the evolution of the discipline from its historical foundations. It is the tale of a
normative project—which has come through two wars and the subsequent aspirations
for peace—which gives us both a doctrinal and professional history of international law.
The evolutionary tale throws light on how the colonial project made use of international
law, how states used international law to resist colonization, and how international law
served de-colonization. It will also inform us about the many movements of resistance
and redemption—the epistemological battles—that were fought within international law
by scholars from Asia and Africa.

Reliance on such historical accounts give us a greater sense of the ontological

transformation of the discipline, to its doctrines, to its theory, and to its practice.

Topics

 A Brief history of international law: From Westphalia to the Collapse of the

Soviet Union
 The professional history of international law and early globalizations: 19 th and
20th Century
 The movements of resistance (NIEO, NAIL, TWAIL, Realism/Rationalism)

Reading List

ALEXANDROWICZ, C.H., THE LAW OF NATIONS IN GLOBAL HISTORY 62-71, 113-121.

(David Armitage and Jennifer Pitts eds., 2017)

ANGHIE, ANTONY, SOVEREIGNTY, IMPERIALISM AND INTERNATIONAL LAW 13-114

(2005)

B.S. CHIMNI, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND WORLD ORDER: A CRITIQUE OF

CONTEMPORARY Approaches 2nd Edition 477-497 (2017).

Cass, Deborah, Navigating the New Stream: Recent Critical Scholarship in

International Law, 65 NORDIC J. INT’L L. 341 (1996).

Charlesworth, Hilary and Chinkin, Christine, Feminist Approaches to

International Law, 85 AM. J. INT’L L. 613 (1991).

KOSKENNIEMI, MARTTI, GENTLE CIVILIZER OF NATIONS: RISE AND FALL OF

INTERNATIONAL LAW 1870-1960 (2001).

SHAW, MALCOLM, INTERNATIONAL LAW 13-41 (2003).

Weeramantry, Christopher, Dissenting Opinion: Legality of the Threat or Use of

Nuclear Weapons case I.C.J Reports (1996) pp. 478-482.
Week 7 to 9: Reimagining International Law as the Law of Global Societies
(Post-Ontological Questions)

In the aftermath of globalization, following the end of a history and the fall of many pre-
conceived ideas, there were many isolated and collective efforts at renewalism in
international law. Although such renewalist efforts were unique in their own way, all of
them can be organized under three major strands: the idealist, the normative, and the
rationalist. While each strand has its own imaginations of international law, there are
also commonalities among them. These intersections are worth capturing as they inform
us about a new revolutionary sprit—a desire for reorganization and reordering—that has
come to exist among the scholars of international law.

Topics

1) The fall of international law and the postmodern renewalist spirit

2) International law post to its normative existence: International law as the law
of the society of societies (the global society)
3) Normative renewalism of international law
4) The rationalist invasion of international law

Reading Groups

Korhonen, Outi, New International Law: Silence, Defence or Deliverance, 7 EUR. J.

INT’L L. 1 (1995).

Allott, Philip, The Concept of International Law, 10 EUR. J. INT’L L. 31 (1999).

Bodanski, Daniel, International Law in Black and White, 34 GA. J. INT’L & COMP. L. 285
(2005-2006).

Readings

ALLOTT, PHILIP, EUNOMIA: A NEW ORDER FOR A NEW WORLD (1990).

CARTY, ANTHONY, THE DECAY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: A REAPPRAISAL OF THE LIMITS OF

LEGAL IMAGINATION (1986).

GUZMAN, ANDREW, HOW INTERNATIONAL LAW WORKS: A RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY?

(2007).

Kennedy. David, When Renewal Repeats: Thinking Against the Box, 32 N.Y. U. J. INT’L
& POL. 335 (1999).

KOSKENNIEMI, MARTTI, FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA: THE STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL

LEGAL ARGUMENTS (2005).
Koskenniemi, Martti and Leino, Paivi, Fragmentation of International Law”
Postmodern Anxieties, 15 LEIDEN J. INT’L L. 553 (2002).

POSNER, ERIC, AND GOLDSMITH, JACK, LIMITS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (2005).

Week 10: Re-Imaginations: “Sources” of International Law”

As international law became the law of the global society, its grand structure—the
normative enterprise—which stood with meanings evaporated begged for new meanings
in newer contexts. After the euphoria of the introduction of the grand renewalist
projects, many particularistic imaginations began to surface. While these particularistic
imaginations had allegiance to one or another of the renewalist projects, most of them
were put across as general prescriptions to salvage international law and make it
relevant so that international law transcends the test of time. The first and foremost of
such imaginations were surrounding the sources of international law, codified in Article
38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), generally known as the
source doctrine. The time-beaten source doctrine needed newer understanding so that it
safeguards international law from all questions about the latter’s legitimacy.

Topics
 Role of Article 38(1) in international law
 Sources of international law from a rationalist perspective
 Role of scholars in international norm making
 Contribution of ICJ in international law making—dissenting and separate
opinions
 New sources of international law
Readings

Cabranes, J. A., Customary International Law: What It Is and What It Is Not, 22 DUKE
J. COMP. & INT’L L. 143 (2011).

Chimni, B.S., Customary International Law: A Third World Perspective, 112 AM. J. INT’L
L. 1 (2018).

Norman, George and Trachtman, Joel P., The Customary International Law Game, 99
AM. J. INT’L L. 541 (2005).

Charter of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/

Statute of the International Court of Justice, http://www.icj-

cij.org/documents/index.php?p1=4&p2=2&p3=0

Week 11: International Law and the Classicism of “Sovereignty” and

Statehood
Sovereignty is the foundational and core doctrine of international law, as it is through
the concept of state sovereignty that state and international law sustain. While this
classic Vattelian concept dominated thought and practice of international law, it
assumed many dimensions over the years, e.g, territorial sovereignty, state jurisdiction,
state consent, permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and right to self-
determination. Thus sovereignty assumed two meanings in international law—first the
“immanence”, the vital energy of a state, and second, the other dimensions of
sovereignty, what John Jackson calls, the “other dimensions”, the “slop-over
penumbra”.

As globalization challenged classical international law, the concept of sovereignty too

came under threat, as the classical concept simply does not have the stomach to contain
the dynamics and complexities of global society. This has prompted a re-imagination of
state sovereignty in newer light. This module captures those imaginations using contexts
like accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Topics

 Foundations of the state sovereignty doctrine

 Various dimensions of state sovereignty
 Sovereignty as Horizontal Allocation of Power
 Beyond state sovereignty

Reading Group

Jackson, John, Sovereignty-Modern: A New Approach to an Outdated Concept, 97 AM.

J. INT’L L. 782 (2003).

Readings

ANGHIE, ANTHONY, IMPERIALISM, SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE MAKING OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

(2012)

McCorquodale R., Self-Determination: A Human Rights Approach, 43 Int’l & Comp. L.

Q. 857 (1994).

Sreejith S.G., State Sovereignty at Crossroads: Legality of the Gulf Ban on Qatar
Flights, 43 Air & Space L. 191 (2018).

Weeks 12 and 13: The Concept of Justice: International Law and Global
Justice

A global society governed by a new international law brings with it a new concept of
social justice. Justice herein is broadly understood as the fulfilment of the social
expectations of people. Understanding that concept of justice prompts an inquiry into
the shifting concepts of justice ever since the concept was first conceived and law
became a means for actualizing justice. The idea of justice was first conceived by the
Presocratics, which was carried forward through the Hellenistic tradition of Plato and
Aristotle. As Western philosophy entered the dark ages to remain in darkness until the
scientific enlightenment in the 16th century, the concept of justice got new dimension
and meaning under the Oriental tradition. The scientific enlightenment marked the end
of teleological conceptions of justice to assume a socially-oriented concept of justice. It
is during this phase that law and justice got into an inextricable bonding, giving a
normative concept of justice.

However, with the fall of legal imagination, the normative concept of justice also fell. As
the nature of human socializing (mobility) and the modes of social production (neo-
capitalist) changed, new ideas of social fulfillment have begun to emerge. The new law
needs newer concept of justice. However, with the structural transformation that is
taking place in the international society, whether the current state of international legal
system and its rules are enablers in the realization of the goals of global justice?

Topics

 Evolution of the concept of justice

 Normative framework of justice
 Role of international law in ensuring justice in a globalizing world
 Notions of international justice: Institutions and fairness
 The concept of global justice

Readings

Falk, Richard, The Pursuit of International Justice: Present Dilemmas and an

Imagined Future, 52 J. INT’L AFF. 409 (1999).

Falk, Richard, The Role of the International Court of Justice, 37 J. INT’L AFF. 253
(1984).

Forst, Rainer, Towards a Critical Theory of Transnational Justice, in GLOBAL JUSTICE

169 (Thomas Pogge, ed., 2001).

FRANCK, THOMAS, FAIRNESS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INSTITUTIONS (1995).

Fraser, Nancy, Democratic Justice in a Globalizing Age: Thematizing the Question of

the Frame, in VARIETIES OF WORLD MAKING: BEYOND GLOBALIZATION (Nathalie
Karagiannis and Peter Wagner, eds., 2005).

Fraser, Nancy, Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World, 36 NEW LEFT REV. 1 (2005).

L. VALENTINI, JUSTICE IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD: A NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK (2011).

Nagel, Thomas, The Problem of Global Justice, 33 PHIL. & PUB. AFF. 113 (2005).

RAWLS, JOHN THEORY OF JUSTICE (1999).

SEN, AMARTYA, THE IDEA OF JUSTICE (2009).

Stone, Julius, Approaches to the Notion of International Justice, in THE FUTURE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER: TRENDS AND PATTERNS 731 (Richard A. Falk and C.E.
Black, eds. (1969).

WARREN, JAMES, PRESOCRATICS (2007).

Week 13: Law and Justice in a Post-COVID World

Covid-19, the pandemic, has struck the world badly, rendering the human order falling
apart at all levels. However, following the initiative of the World Health Organization
(WHO), the world witnessed a “global response” to the pandemic organized at various
levels, primarily at the governmental level by the affected countries. The response of the
world against Covid-19, apart from the resilience part, is also a case of phenomenal re-
imagination. Global society has been re-ordering itself through the “new normal” in its
fight against the pandemic.

In the global fight against this pandemic, international law has again assumed
significance due to the transnational/global nature of the pandemic. The relevance of
international law in these times cannot be limited to the actions initiated through
international institutions like the WHO, but many questions on state responsibility and
states’ duty to protect under international law also came to the forefront. Many
dominant thoughts like “state interest” assumed a new dimension, as states started to
reclaim the ideal of international community of states.

Topics

 The relevance of Covid-19 Pandemic for the global society

 Global legal and policy response to Covid-19
 The new normal
 New notion of law and justice in post Covid-19 world

Readings

Baxi, Upendra, Nations Must Not Ignore Principles of Existing International Law in
Fight against Covid-19, INDIAN EXPRESS, April 10, 2020, available at
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-lockdown-quarantine-
coronavirus-cases-upendra-baxi-6355478/