An ‘Orderly Division of Labor’ amongst International Courts and Tribunals: Possible and/or Desirable?

If you wish to participate in this (remote) seminar, RSVP is necessary. Please complete the form by noon Wednesday 14 October and prior to the seminar, you will be sent a link to join. The speaker will commence at 12:45 and should conclude before 2:00 pm. All are welcome.

In the last two decades, the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) has significantly departed from its well-established practice of ignoring the jurisprudence developed by other international courts and tribunals and has started to defer to the factual findings and legal interpretations of specialized bodies such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Human Rights Committee, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. On their part, specialized international courts and tribunals seem to treat the ICJ’s jurisprudence on public international law matters with deference. Despite the rich literature on fragmentation of international law, this discernible trend in the relationships between the International Court of Justice and specialized courts and tribunals has not been a major focus of attention thus far. This talk will closely analyze the trend in question to see whether it heralds ‘an orderly division of labour’ among international courts and tribunals on the basis of a functional allocation, something that has been lacking in international law due to the latter’s decentralized structure as the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY observed in Tadić.

Fuad Zarbiyev is an Associate Professor of international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute, an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and the Diploma of the Hague Academy of International Law. Previously, he worked as an associate attorney and counsel with the New York office of the international law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP. He is the recipient of the James Crawford prize awarded for his article entitled ‘Judicial Activism in International Law’ published in Journal of International Dispute Settlement. His research interests include public international law, the politics and sociology of international law and institutions and international judicial behavior.

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Convenor of the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group: Tsvetelina van Benthem​

The discussion group’s meetings are part of the programme of the British Branch of the International Law Association and are supported by the Law Faculty and Oxford University Press.

The PIL Discussion Group hosts a weekly speaker event and is a key focal point for PIL@Oxford. Please note that for Michaelmas Term, this series will be held remotely. Topics involve contemporary and challenging issues in international law. Speakers include distinguished international law practitioners, academics, and legal advisers from around the world. The group typically meets each Thursday during Oxford terms. The speaker will commence at 12:45 and speak for about forty minutes, allowing about twenty-five minutes for questions and discussion. The meeting should conclude before 2:00. Practitioners, academics and students from within and outside the University of Oxford are all welcome.

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