Relative Normativity and the Constitutional Dimension of International Law: A Place for Values in the International Legal System?

Abstract

While International Law becomes more and more specialized, a tendency towards Fragmentation becomes visible: more and more sub-regimes of International Law emerge, leading to an increased number of rules. With the creation of more sub-regimes, cases are becoming more likely in which more than one sub-regime is involved and the question arises, which sub-regime's rules take precedence. Recent examples for such collisions of regimes include the relation between Free Trade and the Protection of the Environment in theYellowfin-Tuna Casebetween the United States and Mexico which was settled only in January 2002, theTadic-Nicaragua Debateand theSwordfish Casebetween the European Community and Chile, including the need for some form of internal order or hierarchy within International Law.