Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture 2017: "Privatisation Under and Of Public International Law", by Professor Anne Peters. Part 1: "Conceptual Foundations and Privatisation in States Under the Purview of International Law"

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Description:	The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law and a revised and expanded version of the lectures is usually published in the Hersch Lauterpacht Lecture Series by Cambridge University Press. The lecture comprises three parts, delivered on consecutive evenings, followed by a Q&A session on the fourth day. The 2017 Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture series, entitled 'Privatisation Under and Of Public International Law' was delivered at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, by Professor Anne Peters, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg , from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 March 2017. This part, entitled 'Conceptual Foundations and Privatisation in States Under the Purview of International Law', is the first of the three lectures given.

Description:

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law and a revised and expanded version of the lectures is usually published in the Hersch Lauterpacht Lecture Series by Cambridge University Press. The lecture comprises three parts, delivered on consecutive evenings, followed by a Q&A session on the fourth day.

The 2017 Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture series, entitled 'Privatisation Under and Of Public International Law' was delivered at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, by Professor Anne Peters, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg , from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 March 2017.

This part, entitled 'Conceptual Foundations and Privatisation in States Under the Purview of International Law', is the first of the three lectures given.


Created:	2017-04-06 13:46
Collection:	LCIL International Law Seminar Series (VIDEO MOVED) LCIL International Law Seminar Series MOVED
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	University of Cambridge
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	International Law; Public International Law; Human Rights Law; Privatisation;


Abstract:	International law has emerged out of (Roman) private law sources and analogies, as Hersch Lauterpacht has shown. One might call this the publicisation of private law-bits and pieces to shape a droit public européen and a public international law. The last decades have brought about counter-trends of privatisation. First, states have radically and often under pressure by international and regional financial institutions divested themselves of infrastructure and handed over tasks and services to the private sector. This is the privatisation under public international law. Second, global markets, global corporations, and global supply chains have begun to shape not only the substance of international law but also its structure (in terms of legal subjects and legal sources/instruments). This is the privatisation of public international law. Privatisation under international law and privatisation of international law are linked, because the rise of the private sector (business), the concomitant shrinking of states, and the deep engagement of international organisations (IOs) with private partners have been transforming the international legal persons themselves, the international law-making processes, and the legal outcomes, too. Lauterpacht' s original intention of strengthening the element of law, and of countering lawlessness in international relations was in 1927 served by drawing on private law as the best available model of law existing at the time. Ninety years later, Lauterpacht's quest for a "reign of law" in what we now call global governance can be best satisfied by acknowledging and carving out the public-law quality of international law while accommodating and integrating the increasingly important private actors into global governance. Part 1: Conceptual Foundations and Privatisation in States Under the Purview of International Law Lecture 1 states the problem, defines the key concepts, and examines privatisation (selling infrastructure and outsourcing tasks) within states. Contrary to what is often assumed, public international law is not blind or neutral towards privatisation programmes. International organisations pushing states to privatise must not undermine a state's capacity to comply with international human rights obligations. And where a state takes a sovereign decision to pursue privatisation, the state's responsibility to protect (R2P) which is attached to its sovereignty prohibits the state to completely relinquish responsibility for tasks connected to the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Besides these specific means at the disposal of the state, a substantive, inalienable essence of statehood can today only be constituted by international human rights. The privatising state remains obliged to guarantee a human rights minimum for all persons under its jurisdiction and maybe even beyond. This will mainly be satisfied through the proper regulation of providers and contractors. It is an open question how far the state's responsibility to regulate private actors in an extraterritorial fashion stretches.

Abstract:

International law has emerged out of (Roman) private law sources and analogies, as Hersch Lauterpacht has shown. One might call this the publicisation of private law-bits and pieces to shape a droit public européen and a public international law.

The last decades have brought about counter-trends of privatisation. First, states have radically and often under pressure by international and regional financial institutions divested themselves of infrastructure and handed over tasks and services to the private sector. This is the privatisation under public international law.

Second, global markets, global corporations, and global supply chains have begun to shape not only the substance of international law but also its structure (in terms of legal subjects and legal sources/instruments). This is the privatisation of public international law.

Privatisation under international law and privatisation of international law are linked, because the rise of the private sector (business), the concomitant shrinking of states, and the deep engagement of international organisations (IOs) with private partners have been transforming the international legal persons themselves, the international law-making processes, and the legal outcomes, too.

Lauterpacht' s original intention of strengthening the element of law, and of countering lawlessness in international relations was in 1927 served by drawing on private law as the best available model of law existing at the time. Ninety years later, Lauterpacht's quest for a "reign of law" in what we now call global governance can be best satisfied by acknowledging and carving out the public-law quality of international law while accommodating and integrating the increasingly important private actors into global governance.

Part 1: Conceptual Foundations and Privatisation in States Under the Purview of International Law

Lecture 1 states the problem, defines the key concepts, and examines privatisation (selling infrastructure and outsourcing tasks) within states. Contrary to what is often assumed, public international law is not blind or neutral towards privatisation programmes.

International organisations pushing states to privatise must not undermine a state's capacity to comply with international human rights obligations. And where a state takes a sovereign decision to pursue privatisation, the state's responsibility to protect (R2P) which is attached to its sovereignty prohibits the state to completely relinquish responsibility for tasks connected to the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Besides these specific means at the disposal of the state, a substantive, inalienable essence of statehood can today only be constituted by international human rights. The privatising state remains obliged to guarantee a human rights minimum for all persons under its jurisdiction and maybe even beyond. This will mainly be satisfied through the proper regulation of providers and contractors. It is an open question how far the state's responsibility to regulate private actors in an extraterritorial fashion stretches.

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