The Legitimization Strategies of International Judges
The Legitimization Strategies of International Judges
The Case of the European Court of Human Rights
By going beyond the mainstream normative political theoretical discussion of the legitimacy of European or international courts, this chapter suggests that international courts legitimize themselves in relation to several key environments, contingent on historical socio-political developments. It uses the evolution of the ECtHR as a case study. The chapter begins with a discussion of the proposed shift in analytical perspective, from analysing the normative category of legitimacy of international courts to a study of the ways in which international courts are legitimized by various legitimization strategies. Next, the chapter provides empirical evidence of the ways in which the approach can be deployed, exemplified primarily by the case of the ECtHR. The conclusion restates the argument and relates its implications to the way judges for the Strasbourg bench ought to be selected.
Keywords: European Court of Human Rights, legitimacy, judicial biographies, legal diplomacy, evolution of the European Convention, sociology of courts
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