Global constitutionalism as a legal theory and ideology of the reorganization of the world order

---

Global (or World) constitutionalism is an established philosophical theory (formed in European thought on the base of Immanuel Kant’s intellectual heritage); the area of legal and political debates about possibility of a new, more faithful, global social and legal order; and the framework for the articulation of the new network of the current political movements, generally oriented on globalized, or more unified vision of the constitutional values, norms and human rights as based on common international construction of the legal order and the global governance. Though many important ideas of global constitutionalism were formulated by international lawyers at the first half of the XX century (in debates occurred after the end of First and Second World wars about the role of the League of the Nations and United Nations Organization), the real practical importance of this theory became much more clear only after the end of the Cold war – the collapse of the USSR and the creation of the European Union in 1991, interpreted by many experts as a principal achievement of this theory, a muster for its practical implementation and a pre-eminent road-map for the future global transformation of international law, constitutionalism and governance. In the context of this progressive debate, concentrated mainly on international law, European law and transnational jurisprudence, the special issue of global constitutionalism (as a problematic and still disputable amalgam of supra-national and national legal rules, norms and regulations) became the subject of conflict, controversial and partisan debates in the theory of law. The author analyses the whole balk of the most important theories of the global constitutionalism – cosmopolitan, normative, societal, institutional, functional, comparative, constructivist, meta-legal and critical, showing the positive and negative aspects of each and reconstructing the shifting balance of priorities and arguments. The bulk of the existing theories and projects of global constitutionalism (more or less formalized, coordinated and openly circulated in public space during last 25 years) provide a perfect ground for the complex, reliable and empirical research of the global constitutionalism as a new international legal philosophy, ideology, and political movement. By using the cognitive method and the constructivist approach, this research initiative puts under consideration the scope, the dynamic and practical influence of global constitutionalist movement as a new ideology, public ethics, strategy and politics of the current legal transformation.

About the author: Andrey Medushevsky – Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Tenured Professor, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Medushevsky A. (2020) Global'nyy konstitutsionalism kak pravovaya teoriya i ideologiya pereustroystva mirovogo poryadka [Global constitutionalism as a legal theory and ideology of the reorganization of the world order]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.29, no.1, pp.15–42. (In Russian).

References

Atilgan A. (2018) Global Constitutionalism. A Socio-Legal Perspective, Heidelberg: Springer.

Avbelj M., Komarek J. (eds.) (2012) Constitutional Pluralism in the European Union and Beyond, Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Bartole S. (2017) Comparative Constitutional Law – an Indispensable Tool for the Creation of Transnational Law. European Constitutional Law Review, vol.13, no.4, pp.601–610.

Belov M. (ed.) (2018) Global Constitutionalism and Its Challenges to Westphalian Constitutional Law, London: Hart.

Bellamy R. (2007) Political Constitutionalism: A Republican Defense of the Constitutionality of Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bhandari S. (2016) Global Constitutionalism and the Path of International Law, Leiden: Brill/Nijhoff.

Benvenisti E. (2014) Law of Global Governance, The Hague: Hague Academy of International Law.

Bonnemann M., Jung L. (2017) Critical Legal Studies and Comparative Constitutional Law. Available at: https://oxcon.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law-mpeccol/law-mpeccol-e670 (accessed: 13.01.2020).

Brown G.W. (2012) The Constitutionalisation of What? Global Constitutionalism, vol.1, no.2, pp.201–228.

Byers M., Nolte G. (2003) United States Hegemony and the Foundations of International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chimni B.S. (2006) Third World Approaches to International Law: A Manifesto. International Community Law Review, vol.8, no.1, pp.3–27.

Cohen J. (2012) Globalization and Sovereignty: Rethinking Legality and Legitimacy and Constitutionalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coradetti C. (2016) Constructivism in Cosmopolitan Law: Kant’s Right to Visit. In: Coradetti C., Sartor G. (eds.) Global Constitutionalism without Global Democracy (?): EUI Working Paper LAW 2016/21, Badia Fiesolana: European University Institute, pp.3–21.

Corradetti C. (2016) Thinking with Kant “Beyond” Kant: Actualizing Sovereignty and Citizenship in the Transnational Sphere. In: Coradetti C., Sartor G. (eds.) Global Constitutionalism without Global Democracy (?): EUI Working Paper LAW 2016/21, Badia Fiesolana: European University Institute, pp.23–38.

Delpano R. (2013) Fragmentation and Constitutionalization of International Law. A Theoretical Inquiry. European Journal of Legal Studies, vol.6, no.1, pp.67–89.

Delbrück J. (2001) Structural Changes in the International System and Its Legal Order: International Law in the Era of Globalization. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Internationales und Europäisches Recht, vol.11, no.1, pp.1–36.

De Wet E. (2006) The Emergence of International and Regional Value Systems as a Manifestation of the Emerging International Constitutional Order. Leiden Journal of International Law, vol.19, no.3, pp.611–632.

De Wet E. (2012) The Constitutionalization of Public International Law. In: Rosenfeld M., Sajo A. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.1209–1230.

Diggelmann O., Altwicker T. (2008) Is There Something Like a Constitution of International Law? A Critical Analysis of the Debate on World Constitutionalism. Die Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, vol.68, no.3, pp.623–650.

Dunoff J., Truchtman J.P. (eds.) (2009) Ruling the World Constitutionalism, International Law and Global Governance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fassbender B. (2007) The Meaning of International Constitutional Law. In: Tsagourias N. (ed.) Transnational Constitutionalism. International and European Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.307–328.

Fassbender B. (2009) The United Nations Charter as Constitution of the International Community, Leiden: Nijhoff.

Fischer-Lescano A., Teubner G. (2004) Regime-collisions: The Vain Search for Legal Unity in the Fragmentation of Global Law. Michigan Journal of International Law, vol.25, no.4, pp.1000–1017.

Grimm D. (1995) Does Europe Need a Constitution? European Law Journal, vol.1, no.3, pp.282–302.

Grimm D. (2010) The Achievement of Constitutionalism and Its Prospects in a Changed World. In: Dobin P., Loughlin P. (eds.) The Twilight of Constitutionalism? Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.3–22.

Habermas J. (1995) Remarks on Dieter Grimm’s “Does Europe Need a Constitution?” European Law Journal, vol.1, no.3, pp.303–307.

Habermas J. (2008) The Divided West, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Halmai G. (2014) Perspectives on Global Constitutionalism: The Use of Foreign and International Law, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing.

Hirsch Ph.-A. (2012) Legalization of International Politics: On the (Im)Possibility of a Constitutionalization of International Law from a Kantian Point of View. Goettingen Journal of International Law, vol.4, no.2, pp.479–518.

Held D. (1995) Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Held D. (2010) Cosmopolitanism: Ideas and Realities, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010.

Heywood A. (2011) Global Politics, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kirsch N. (2010) Beyond Constitutionalism: The Pluralist Structure of Postnational Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Klabbers J., Peters A., Ulfstein G. (2009) The Constitututionalization of International Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kleinlein T. (2012) Between Myths and Norms: Constructivist Constitutionalism and the Potential of Constitutional Principles in International Law. Nordic Journal of International Law, vol.81, no.2, pp.79–132.

Kleinlein T. (2012) Constitutionalization in International Law. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, no.231, pp.703–715.

Kleinlein T., Peters A. (2018) International Constitutional Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kumm M. (2004) The Legitimacy of International Law. A Constitutional Framework of Analysis. European Journal of International Law, vol.15, no.5, pp.907–931.

Kumm M. (2013) The Cosmopolitan Turn in Constitutionalism: An Integrated Concept of Public Law. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol.20, no.2, pp.605–628.

Kumm M., Lang A.F., Tully J., Wiener A. (2014) How Large Is the World of Global Constitutionalism? Global Constitutionalism, vol.3, no.1, pp.1–8.

Lang A.F., Wiener A. (eds.) (2017) Handbook on Global Constitutionalism, Cambridge: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Law D.S., Versteeg M. (2011) The Evolution and Ideology of Global Constitutionalism. California Law Review, vol.99, no.5, pp.1163–1258.

Loughlin M. (2010) What Is Constitualization? In: Dobin P., Loughlin P. (eds.) The Twilight of Constitutionalism? Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.47–72.

Maldonado D.B. (ed.) (2013) Constitutionalism of the Global South, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Macdonald R.St., Johnston D.M. (eds.) (2005) Towards World Constitutionalism: Issues in The Legal Ordering of the World Community, The Hague: Nijhoff.

MacGillivray A. (2006) A Brief History of Globalization: The Untold Story of Incredible Shrinking Planet, London: Robinson Publishing.

Mearns E. (1996) Emerging Trends in International Constitutionalism: A Comparative Approach. International Law, vol.28, no.1, pp.1–2.

Medushevsky A. (2011) Kognitivnaya teoriya prava i yuridicheskoe konstruirovanie real'nosti [Cognitive theory of law and the legal construction of reality]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.20, no.5, pp.30–42. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. (2015) Politicheskie sochineniya [Political writings], Moscow; Saint Petersburg: Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. (2016) Globalizatsiya konstitutsionnogo poryadka: sotsiologicheskiy podkhod: Vvedenie [Constitutional order in global dimension: sociological approach foreword: An introduction]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.25, no.1, pp.39–40. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. (2018) Svoboda ili podozritel'nost': kak zashchitit' liberal'­nyy konstitutsionalizm ot ego protivnikov: Retsenziya na knigu: Sajo A., Uitz R. The Constitution of Freedom: An Introduction to Legal Constitutionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017 [Freedom or suspiciousness: How to protect liberal constitutionalism from its enemies: Book review: Sajo A., Uitz R. The Constitution of Freedom: An Introduction to Legal Constitutionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017]. Sravnitel'­noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.27, no.3, pp.124–135. (In Russian).

Milewicz K. (2009) Emerging Patterns of Global Constitutionalization: Toward a Conceptual Framework. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol.16, no.2, pp.413–436.

Nolkaemper A. (2009) Constitutionalization and the Unity of the Law of International Responsibility. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol.16, no.2, pp.535–563.

Onuma Y. (2006) A Transcivilizational Perspective on Global Legal Order in the Twenty-First Century: A Way to Overcome West-centric and Judiciary-centric Deficits in International Legal Thoughts. International Community Law Review, vol.8, no.1, pp.29–63.

Osterhammel J., Petersson N.P. (2009) Globalization: A Short History, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Peters A. (2005) Global Constitutionalism Revisited. International Legal Theory, vol.11, pp.39–68.

Peters A. (2006) Compensatory Constitutionalism: The Function and Potential of Fundamental International Norms and Structures. Leiden Journal of International Law, vol.19, no.3, pp.579–610.

Peters A. (2012) Are We Moving towards the Constitutionalization of the World Community? In: Cassese A. (ed.) Realizing Utopia: The Future of International Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.118–135.

Peters A. (2014) Actors in the Age of Global Constitutionalism, Paris: Société de legislation compare.

Peters A. (2015) Constitutional Fragments: On the Interaction of Constitutionalization and Fragmentation in International Law: Centre for Global Constitutionalism of the University of St Andrews Working Paper no.2. Available at: http://cgc.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2015/04/14/cgc-working-paper-no-2-constitutional-fragments (accessed: 12.01.2020).

Peters A. (2015) Global Constitutionalism. In: Gibbus M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Political Thought, London: Wiley-Blackwell, pp.1484–1487.

Peters A., Armingeon K. (2009) Introduction. Global Constitutionalism from an Interdisciplinary Perspective. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol.16, no.2, pp.385–395.

Preuss U.K. (2010) Disconnecting Constitutions from Statehood. Is Global Constitutionalism a Viable Concept? In: Dobner P., Loughlin M. (eds.) Twilight of Constitutionalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Prost M. (2012) The Concept of Unity in Public International Law, Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Rosenfeld M., Sajo A. (eds.) (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rosenfeld M. (2014) Global Constitutionalism. Meaningful or Desirable? European Journal of International Law, vol.25, no.1, pp.177–199.

Sajo A., Uitz R. (2017) The Constitution of Freedom: An Introduction to Legal Constitutionalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schwöbel C.E.J. (2010) Situating the Debate on Global Constitutionalism. International Journal of Constitutional Law, vol.8, no.3, pp.611–635.

Schwöbel C.E.J. (2011) Global Constitutionalism in International Legal Perspective, Leiden; Boston, MA: Martinus Nijhoff.

Slaughter A.-M. (2004) A New World Order, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Somek A. (2014) The Cosmopolitan Constitution, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Suami T., Kumm M., Peters A., Vanoverbeke D. (2018) Global Constitutionalism from European and East Asian Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sweet A.S. (2012) A Cosmopolitan Legal Order: Constitutional Pluralism and Rights Adjudication in Europe. Global Constitutionalism, vol.1, no.1, pp.53–90.

Teubner G. (2004) Societal Constitutionalism: Alternatives to State-centered Constitutional Theory? In: Joerges Ch., Sanel I.-J., Teubner G. (eds.) Transnational Constitutionalism, Oxford: Hart Publishing, pp.3–28.

Teubner G. (2012) Constitutional Fragments: Societal Constitutionalism and Globalization, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Teubner G. (2016) Kontury konstitutsionnoy sotsiologii: preodolenie isklyuchitel'nosti gosudarstvennogo konstitutsionalizma [The project of constitutional sociology: irritating nation state constitutionalism]. Srav­nitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.25, no.1, pp.41–55. (In Russian).

Tsagourias N. (2007) Introduction – Constitutionalism: A Theoretical Roadmap. In: Tsagourias N. (ed.) Transnational Constitutionalism: International and European Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.1–14.

Tully J. (1995) Strange Multiplicity: Constitutionalism in an Age of Diversity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tully J., Dunoff J.L., Lang A.F., Rumm M., Wiener A. (2016) Introducing Global Integral Constitutionalism. Global Constitutionalism, vol.5, no.1, pp.1–15.

Twining W. (2009) General Jurisprudence: Law from a Global Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tyler P. (2012) The History of Globalization, Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing.

Tzevelekos V.P. (2013) Revisiting the Humanization of International Law: Limits and Potential. Erasmus Law Review, vol.6, no.1, pp.62–76.

Von Bogdandi A. (2006) Constitutionalism in International Law: Comment on a Proposal from Germany. Harvard International Law Journal, vol.47, no.1, pp.223–242.

Walker N. (2002) The Idea of Constitutional Pluralism. Modern Law Review, vol.65, no.3, pp.317–359.

Walker N. (2005) Making a World Difference? Habermas, Cosmopolitanism and the Constitutionalization of International Law: EUI Working Paper LAW 2005/17, Badia Fiesolana: European University Institute, pp.1–12.

Walter Ch. (2007) International Law in a Process of Constitutionalization. In: Nijman J., Nolkaemper A. (eds.) New Perspectives on the Divide between National and International Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Walker N. (2008) Post-Constituent Constitutionalism? The Case of the European Union. In: Loughlin M., Walker N. (eds.) The Paradox of Constitutionalism: Power and Constitutional Form, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wiener A., Lang A.F., Tully J., Maduro M.P., Kumm M. (2012) Editorial. Global Constitutionalism: Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. Global Constitutionalism, vol.1, no.1, pp.1–15.

Xavier S. (2015) False Universalism of Global Governance Theories: Global Constitutionalism, Global Administrative Law, International Criminal Institutions and the Global South: Ph.D. dissertation, Osgoode Hall Law School, University of York. Available at: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/phd/20 (accessed: 12.01.2020).

Yeh J.-R., Chang W.-Ch. (2008) The Emergence of Transnational Constitutionalism: Its Features, Challenges and Solutions. Penn State International Law Review, vol.27, no.1, pp.89–124.