The New Global Law

The dislocations of the worldwide economic crisis, the necessity of a system of global justice to address crimes against humanity, and the notorious 'democratic deficit' of international institutions highlight the need for an innovative and truly global legal system, one that permits humanity to re-order itself according to acknowledged global needs and evolving consciousness. A new global law will constitute, by itself, a genuine legal order and will not be limited to a handful of moral principles that attempt to guide the conduct of the world's peoples. If the law of nations served the hegemonic interests of Ancient Rome, and international law served those of the European nation-state, then a new global law will contribute to the common good of all humanity and, ideally, to the development of durable world peace. This volume offers a historical-juridical foundation for the development of this new global law.

Part I. From Ius gentium to International Law: 1. The ius gentium, a Roman concept; 2. The ius commune, a medieval concept; 3. International law, a modern concept; Part II. Towards a Global Law: 4. The crisis of international law; 5. Global law, a challenge for our time; 6. The global legal order; 7. Legal principles of global law; Conclusion: the third time is the charm.

This volume offers a historical-juridical foundation for the development of an innovative and truly global legal system that permits humanity to re-order itself according to acknowledged global needs and evolving consciousness. It outlines a new global law that will constitute a genuine legal order serving humanity and world peace.

Rafael Domingo is Professor of Law and Director of the Garrigues Chair in Global Law at the University of Navarra, Spain. He has been awarded a fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research in Legal History at the University of Munich. He has also served as a Visiting Scholar at the University of La Sapienza in Rome and at Columbia Law School in New York. Domingo has been awarded the Medal of Honor 'Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza' by the Peruvian Constitutional Court (2006), 'the Rafael Martínez Emeprador Prize' by the Spanish General Council of the Judiciary (2007) and the Medal of Honour by the Paraguayan Academy of Law (2009). Professor Domingo is Director of the Gertrude Ryan Law Observatory and President of the Maiestas Foundation. He is a member of the Spanish Academy of Legal Science and Legislation, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Spanish Academy of Moral Sciences and Politics and the National Academy of Law and Social Sciences in Cordoba (Argentina). He has a long list of publications, including more than ten books and seventy articles and book reviews on a range of topics.