The Rule of Law in Global Governance: Its Normative Construction, Function and Import

Abstract

What does the Rule of law contribute in the frame of global governance? While addressing metamorphoses of law and the multiple legalities in the global context, this paper shows that the rule of law can consistently be extended externally being cherished internally. It takes seriously the concurrence of different legalities in their diverse ‘formats’, and the challenge of the “global administrative law” theoretical and empirical model. At the meta-level of the relations among legalities, the Rule of law has an essential role to play: it affects interactions and interdependence, and can cause content-dependent assessments to develop, without supporting self-closure or monistic dogmas. This originates from the normative implications of the rule of law ideal (between couples like accountability and responsibility, the right and good, justice and power) but appears to open a forward looking research agenda on global governance.

Keywords: Global Governance, Rule of Law, Global Administrative Law, Accountability, Responsibility, Justice

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K33