The Principle of Systemic Integration in Human Rights Law - A Critical Appraisal
International & Comparative Law Quarterly (2017 Forthcoming)
Posted: 15 Mar 2017
Date Written: March 14, 2017
Abstract
International lawyers and courts discuss the principle of systemic integration as the answer to certain difficulties arising from fragmentation of public international law. This article questions the main propositions pertaining international law scholarship and judicial practice as far as the application of systemic integration of treaties in the human rights area is concerned. The article argues, first, that, in many instances, the application of systemic integration raises serious interpretation and jurisdictional concerns. Second, the article submits that systemic integration may create new hegemonies among international courts and give rise to a less diverse and poorer international law in the future.
Keywords: systemic integration, progressive development, treaties, human rights, Article 31 (3)(c) VCLT, interpretation, African Court of Human and Peoples Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights
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