The Rule of Recognition and the Rule of Law: Departmentalism and Constitutional Development in the United States and the United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Edlin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The United Kingdom

The penholder system and the rule of law in the Security Council decision-making: Setback or improvement?

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-156
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Loiselle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Council Decision

AbstractThis article analyses the decision-making process of the UN Security Council when it adopts outcome documents, such as resolutions, Presidential statements and press statements. It is commonly assumed that because of their veto power and permanency China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have greater influence than their elected counterparts in shaping those outcomes. In recent years, that control has been strengthened by the penholdership system. Under this practice, one or more members, usually France, the United States or the United Kingdom (P3), take leadership over a situation on the agenda of the Council. When ‘holding the pen’ a member often decides what action the Council should take, then drafts an outcome document that it negotiates with other permanent members before sharing the text with elected members. This article explores the development of this practice and its impact on the respect for the rule of law in the Security Council’s decision-making process. It argues that, while concentrating power in the hands of the P3, hence diminishing transparency and the opportunity for all members to participate in the decision-making of the Council, at the same time the penholdership system also provides an avenue to strengthen elected members’ influence in ways that promote respect for the international rule of law.

Lawyers as Activists

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dorf ◽  
Michael S. Chu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Court Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trump Administration

Lawyers played a key role in challenging the Trump administration’s Travel Ban on entry into the United States of nationals from various majority-Muslim nations. Responding to calls from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which were amplified by social media, lawyers responded to the Travel Ban’s chaotic rollout by providing assistance to foreign travelers at airports. Their efforts led to initial court victories, which in turn led the government to soften the Ban somewhat in two superseding executive actions. The lawyers’ work also contributed to the broader resistance to the Trump administration by dramatizing its bigotry, callousness, cruelty, and lawlessness. The efficacy of the lawyers’ resistance to the Travel Ban shows that, contrary to strong claims about the limits of court action, litigation can promote social change. General lessons about lawyer activism in ordinary times are difficult to draw, however, because of the extraordinary threat Trump poses to civil rights and the rule of law.

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