Softness in International Law: A Rejoinder to Tony D'Amato

Abstract

The paper constitutes a rejoinder to Professor Tony d’Amato’s response to d’Aspremont’s paper on ‘Softness in International Law’ published in the European Journal of International Law 2008. This rejoinder argues that the concept of legal act remains subject to deep controversies in the international legal scholarship. This creates a risk of cacophony among legal scholars, for they fail to speak the same language. In doing so, the paper points to the need to for elementary standardization in international law.

Keywords: Legal Theory, Legal Positivism, International Law, Legal Act, Concept of Law, Standardization, Language, Critical Legal Studies