Conceptualising Accountability in International and European Law

Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, pp. 3-20, 2006

20 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2009 Last revised: 29 Apr 2011

See all articles by Deirdre Curtin

Deirdre Curtin

Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance; European University Institute, Department of Law, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies

Andre Nollkaemper

University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law

Date Written: 2006

Abstract

This article introduces in general terms the concept of accountability and its potential relevance to international and European legal scholarship. It argues that the scale of the shifts in governance and public authority away from the territorial state towards different forms and levels of governance, within and beyond the parameters of the traditional nation state, call for shifts in accountability relationships beyond that applicable within the confines of the territorial state. This, in turn, requires a rethinking of the concept, aims and forms of accountability applying in international and European law. The article explores five aspects of the concept of accountability: the aims of accountability, the actors involved in processes of accountability, the institutions to which accountability must be rendered, the process of accountability, and the levels of accountability. In each regard, the concept of accountability enables us to move beyond traditional concepts of the international legal order such as liability and responsibility and to gain a better understanding of appropriate responses to abuses of power resulting from shifts in authority.

Keywords: international law, european law, accountability, governance

JEL Classification: K33

Suggested Citation

Curtin, Deirdre M. and Curtin, Deirdre M. and Nollkaemper, Andre, Conceptualising Accountability in International and European Law (2006). Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, pp. 3-20, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1349787

Deirdre M. Curtin (Contact Author)

Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance ( email )

P.O.Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/d.m.curtin/

European University Institute, Department of Law, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies ( email )

Via Bolognese 156 (Villa Salviati)
50-139 Firenze
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.eui.eu/DepartmentsAndCentres/Law/People/Professors/Curtin.aspx

Andre Nollkaemper

University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for International Law ( email )

P.O. Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/p.a.nollkaemper/

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