Ethical Dilemmas in Inter-State Disputes

21 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2017

See all articles by Christina Parajon Skinner

Christina Parajon Skinner

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: 2016

Abstract

Despite the growth of international adjudication in the past few decades, ethical standards for counsel appearing before public international courts and tribunals remain underdeveloped. Today, counsel has scant guidance—as a matter of international norms or law—as to what behavior is appropriate and professional. Consequently, litigants’ behavior is largely governed by ethical rules established and enforced by domestic regulatory authorities. This Essay challenges this ethical status quo and urges a firmer set of internationally transcendent ethical principles to apply in public international litigation.

In particular, this Essay considers the lack of ethical guidance for counsel litigating inter-state disputes before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It argues that, as a baseline, concrete duties of diligence and disclosure should be developed as the foundation of an ICJ-specific ethical code of conduct. The Essay questions, however, whether the ICJ would be the ideal enforcer of such code, and points to several reasons why assuming such a role may undermine some of the Court’s broader purposes and goals. It suggests that national courts or political systems could be more effective in playing an enforcement role if domestic commitment to do so could be firmly secured.

Ultimately, the Essay aims to spark conversation between scholars and practitioners of international law about the need to set ethical boundaries for litigants appearing before the International Court. It also seeks to encourage further steps toward drafting diligence and disclosure standards and identifying a credible and authoritative mechanism to enforce them.

Keywords: professional ethics, international law

Suggested Citation

Skinner, Christina Parajon, Ethical Dilemmas in Inter-State Disputes (2016). Alabama Law Review, Vol. 68, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3038418

Christina Parajon Skinner (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

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