The future of public international law : between contemporary philosophy and the law

Abstract EN

This paper talks about the future of public international law, where the classical Westphalian understanding of the notion, accompanied with the PCIJ’s Lotus principle are no longer accepted.

The idea of The Law of Peoples as articulated by John Rawls is becoming a reality.

The role of NGOs and TNCs has developed rapidly in recent years, to the degree that it is – almost – safe to say that international law is no longer the product of the sovereign will of States.

The concept of State sovereignty is highly challenged in recent times.

Contemporary political philosophy and the practice of States and international persons has demonstrated that the future of international law is leaning towards a brighter outlook, where a utopia of ‘justice as fairness’ is coming to existence.

This paper does not suggest that the time has come to celebrate the end of history, however, a smaller rejoice is appropriate, in order to recognize an evolutionary step in human practice.