Jed Odermatt

University of Copenhagen · Centre of Excellence for International Courts (iCourts)

International courts (ICs) have found themselves dealing with issues that are ‘political’ in nature. This paper discusses the techniques of avoidance ICs have developed to navigate such highly political or sensitive issues. The first part discusses some of the key rationales for avoidance. Drawing on the discussion of the political question doctrin...

On December 21, 2016, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissed an action brought by the Front Polisario challenging a decision of the Council of the European Union (EU) approving the conclusion of an agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom Morocco on the reciprocal liberalization of certain agric...

In his Fourth Report on the Identification of Customary International Law (2016), Special Rapporteur Sir Michael Wood confirmed that ‘[i]n certain cases, the practice of international organizations also contributes to the expression, or creation, of rules of customary international law’. That the practice of international organizations can be relev...

The Court of Justice of the European Union has on numerous occasions employed the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, to the extent that they represent principles of customary international law, in its judicial reasoning. At first glance, the Court’s use of the Vienna rules demonstrate fidelity towards international law; it...

The Lisbon Treaty emphasizes the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, stating that it ‘shall seek to develop relations and build partnerships with [...] international, regional or global organisations’ and to ‘promote multilateral solutions to common problems, in particular in the framework of the United Nations’ (Article 21(1), second para., TEU)....

On 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered Opinion 2/13 on whether the Draft Agreement on the European Union’s Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights is compatible with EU law. The Court found that the Agreement did not sufficiently take into account the specific nature of the European Union, and that it...

Why are the intergovernmental organizations referred to as the “four pillars” of international economic governance designed the way they are? Although much of their institutional design – issues like voting, membership, mandate, and funding – can be traced back to the history of the organization and the circumstances in which states established it,...

Over the past decades, but especially since the 2008 global financial crisis, there has been a proliferation as well as an intensification of international regulatory processes regarding the activities of banks: this goes from the work of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on prudential supervisory standards to the activities of the OECD-ba...

Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union establishes that the Union “shall accede to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.” In early 2013, negotiators of the 47 Council of Europe member states and the European Union finalised a draft Accession Agreement that would allow the EU to accede to the Conv...

This paper discusses the effects of the EU’s external relations institutional framework on the conduct of its diplomacy. Drawing upon the academic writing in the field, we attempt to take a step further, examining how the post-Lisbon external relations architecture influences EU diplomacy in practice, combining legal analysis with policy-making. Ou...

This working paper analyses the relationship between the European Union and the G20, with an emphasis on how the two bodies have impacted and shaped each other’s agendas. Both entities mark, in very different ways, a changing world order in which states are cooperating ever more closely in order to tackle transnational challenges. However, the rela...

The Lisbon Treaty emphasizes the European Union’s (EU) commitment to multilateralism. A key part of this is the EU’s engagement with and participation in international organizations (IOs). While the EU has clear ambitions to take part and play a leading role in IOs, it faces significant obstacles in making this a reality. This paper begins by outli...

It is now generally accepted that the UN Security Council is capable of acting in a legislative capacity, and may lay down rules of a general character, directed at all states, for a non-defined period. By entering the field of legislative activity, the Security Council has effectively been added alongside traditional forms of international law-mak...

Why are the intergovernmental organizations referred to as the ‘four pillars’ of international economic governance designed the way they are? Although much of their institutional design—issues like voting, membership, mandate, and funding—can be traced back to the history of the organization and the circumstances in which states established it, the...

The EU recognizes that engagement with international organizations is vital to allowing it to realize its objectives. Although the EU takes part in the work of a considerable number of international organizations and fora, the effects of norms emanating from international bodies upon the EU often remain unclear. In addition to binding legal instrum...

This chapter examines the content, scope, and strength of the mandates of international criminal tribunals. Because the mandate of a criminal court is in the first place the mandate of its prosecutor, it is important to know what is expected of him or her, and what is not. The chapter, which has a comparative component, also discusses the jurisdict...

This contribution briefly discusses the methodological and conceptual issues faced by the ILC during its work on the responsibility of international organizations. It examines some of the key challenges faced by the ILC, including the lack of relevant international practice, and the diversity of international organizations. It argues that while the...

This paper examines and compares the approaches taken by the European Court of Justice and the EU legislature towards international law. Although the Court and legislature are tasked with different roles, such a comparison is warranted, especially since many of the complex legal problems facing the EU regarding international law in recent years hav...

Current human rights debate largely centres on the role of individual states in eradicating poverty either through reform in developing states, or through development assistance provided by developed states. This paper argues that international human rights law should also analyse the role of how international institutions and legal rules contribut...

The TRIPS Agreement has been widely criticised for its effect on limiting access to essential drugs for people in developing countries. This has led lawyers to examine the ways in which states can use the " flexibilities" in TRIPS, such as compulsory licensing, to alleviate some of TRIPS' negative effects. This essay outlines the argument that the...