Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Publication Information
61 Am. J. Juris. 51 (2016).
Abstract
This article seeks to explore some of the reasons why the principle of subsidiarity, although applicable in some sectors of international law and particularly in the field of international human rights law, has difficulty in serving as a general principle of public international law more broadly. The obstacles to advancing a more robust understanding of subsidiarity's place in the current structure of global norms and institutions include: the normative and institutional fragmentation of international law; the continuing centrality of state sovereignty in the international legal system; and the endemic weaknesses and incapacity of states and sub-state communities with respect to any general system of global governance. The article concludes with some suggestions regarding how these difficulties can be mitigated.
Recommended Citation
Paolo G. Carozza,
The Problematic Applicability of Subsidiarity to International Law,
61 Am. J. Juris. 51 (2016)..
Available at:
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