Global Constitutionalism from European and East Asian Perspectives

Description

Global Constitutionalism argues that parts of international law can be understood as being grounded in the rule of law and human rights, and insists that international law can and should be interpreted and progressively developed in the direction of greater respect for and realization of those principles. Global Constitutionalism has been discussed primarily by European scholars. Yet without the engagement of scholars from other parts of the world, the universalist claims underlying Global Constitutionalism ring hollow. This is particularly true with regard to East Asia, where nearly half the world's population and a growing share of global economic and military capacities are located. Are East Asian perspectives on Global Constitutionalism similar to European perspectives? Against the background of current power shifts in international law, this book constitutes the first cross-cultural work on various facets of Global Constitutionalism and elaborates a more nuanced concept that fits our times.

Takao Suami is a Professor at Waseda University Law School, Tokyo, Japan. He studied law at the University of Tokyo (LL.B.), Cornell Law School (LL.M.) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (LL.M.). He was a visiting professor of Duke University Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He served as the President of the European Union Studies Association - Japan, and is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Japanese Society of International Law. His teaching and research interests lie in EU law, international economic law, and judicial policy making in Japan. Anne Peters is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Heidelberg, a Professor at the universities of Heidelberg, Freie Universitat Berlin, and Basel, and a William C. Cook Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan. She has been a member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in respect of Germany (2011-15) and served as the President of the European Society of International Law (2010-12). Her current research interests relate to public international law including its history, global animal law, global governance and global constitutionalism. Dimitri Vanoverbeke is a professor at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and Director of the Department of East Asian and Arabic Studies. He lectures in Japanese Studies (law, politics and society) and also lectures in the Europe-Asia: Interactions and Comparisons module of the Master of Arts in European Studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (East Asian Politics). His current research interests relate to law and society and to the political dynamics in Japan and in Southeast Asia. Aside from publishing on the past and present of the legal system in Japan, he also publishes on the relationship between Japan and the EU. Mattias Kumm is the Inge Rennert Professor of Law at New York University Law School as well as Professor for 'Rule of Law in the Age of Globalisation' at Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin and Managing Director of the Center of Global Constitutionalism at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung. His research focuses on basic issues and contemporary challenges in Global, European and Comparative Public Law and Legal Philosophy. He was a Professor at Harvard University, Yale University, Connecticut, and the European University Institute, Florence and is a Co-Founder and Co-Editor in Chief of Global Constitutionalism.

'Global constitutionalism is part description, part ascription, and part critical stance. It approaches global governance with understandings of institutions, values, and the construction of meaning, arguments, and norms originally developed in the context of domestic constitutional law. This outstanding collection of essays diversifies that important approach beyond the United States and Europe, where it began, with the promise of reshaping 'global constitutionalism' along the way ...' Daniel Halberstam, Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, University of Michigan Law School. "This important volume breaks new ground by bringing East Asian perspectives to inquiries into over global constitutionalism that, until now, have primarily featured voices from the West. The thoughtful essays in Global Constitutionalism from European and East Asian Perspectives constitute a theoretically sophisticated and intellectually vibrant dialogue that will serve as a touchstone for claims that global constitutionalism suffers from a Eurocentric bias. Moreover, these contributions provide fresh perspectives and insights to ongoing conceptual and normative debates over global constitutionalism.' Jeffrey Dunoff, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia 'Democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are the three pillars of the European constitutional heritage. With the long tradition of humanistic Confucianism, East Asia has shared the principles of Western democracy. From the perspective of a Constitutional Judge in South Korea, the claim that constitutionalism is only a Western idea seems peculiarly Eurocentric when made by a European and distinctly authoritarian when made by government officials in Asia. In a time of increasing nationalism and extremism, this timely volume tackles head on some of the hard questions and concerns connected to Global Constitutionalism. A closer cooperation as this among scholars of Europe and East Asia is vital for the genuine globalization of constitutionalism.' Kang Il-won, Justice, Constitutional Court of Korea "This book is a timely contribution to the important study of Global Constitutionalism. Its comparisons between two equally aged but very different traditions - European and East Asian - is as insightful it is challenging, since East Asia alone is such an amorphous entity, with China, Japan and Korea standing out as qualitatively different polities. By bringing together scholars from diverse countries, the book provides a rare platform for meaningful dialogues between radically different institutional and cultural traditions.' Zhang Qianfan, Peking University, Beijing