The Systemic Integration of International Law by Domestic Courts: Domestic Judges as Architects of the Consistency of the International Legal Order

Abstract

The paper aims at appraising whether domestic courts, because of different legal and institutional constraints, construe the systemic character of the international legal order differently from international courts and international legal scholars. After recalling the extent to which international law is applied and interpreted by domestic judges (I), this paper examines whether the principle of systemic integration of international law applies to domestic judges (II). It then turns to the consequences of the tendency of domestic judges to construe international law as a systemic and consistent order, and in particular, the elevation of domestic judges into architects of a consistent international legal order (III).