Guardians of Legality?

Abstract

There is an essential conflict at the heart of the international judicial function. On the one hand, interstate courts and tribunals (ict s) are viewed as guardians of international legality; organs of the international community itself. On the other, they are the tools of their creator states. Accordingly, traditional conceptions of the international judicial function frame ict s as dispute settlors pure and simple, a perspective which comes into conflict with a more community-oriented role for ict s. This article explores these different approaches to the international judicial function, presenting them as two opposing perspectives: one bilateralist, one based on the community interest in legality and the international rule of law. It then assesses the practice and procedure of the icj, itlos, and the wto dsm in relation to jurisdiction and admissibility against these differing views of the international judicial function. It concludes that, although the bilateralist perspective still holds considerable sway, a more systemic, community interest-oriented international judicial function is clearly emerging in the field of international adjudication.