HiiL Awards Subsidy for a New research Project on the Rule of Law

The project is led by three leading experts in the rule-of-law field: Prof. Michael Zürn (Social Science Research Centre Berlin; Hertie School of Governance), Prof. Randall Peerenboom (La Trobe University Melbourne; Oxford University) and Prof. André Nollkaemper (University of Amsterdam), who designed the project in conjunction with HiiL’s ‘Rule of Law’ research theme and in close cooperation with HiiL.

Project Summary

The Internationalisation of Rule of Law – Changing Contexts and New Challenges Project is a two-phase project, spanning over 3 ½ years, seeking to address the following issue: What does the ever increasing connectivity of today – often termed ‘globalisation’ or ‘internationalisation’ – mean for the setting in which rule of law at the national level is defined, perceived, shaped, or developed; and what consequences does/should this have for the actual implementation of rule of law strategies and programs at the national and international levels? Phase 1 involves a conference followed by an edited volume that will map the many important empirical developments of rule of law dynamics in the last years as they relate to processes of internationalisation, explore the mechanisms and processes behind these developments, and analyze the politics of rule of law promotion internationally and domestically. Phase 2 involves further theoretical and empirical exploration and analysis of three key dimensions of this process of internationalization of rule of law: 1) Rule of Law Promotion and Legalisation Beyond the Nation-State; 2) New Checks and balances: protection of the rule of law in a multi-layered system; and 3) Internationalisation of Rule of Law and the Challenges of Middle-Income Countries in an Evolving International Order.

The Project’s Leaders

Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn is Dean of the Hertie School of Governance and Director of the Research Unit "International Institutions and Transnational Conflicts" at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB). He has been a visiting professor at the University of Denver, Harvard University and the Center for Advanced Studies in Oslo. Before coming to Berlin, Zürn was a Professor for International and Transnational Relations at the University of Bremen, where he founded and chaired the Collaborative Research Center "Transformation of the State". He is a member of many academic boards, including the Senate of the German Research Association. Zürn is also a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Randall Peerenboom is the director of the Rule of Law in China programme of the Foundation or Law, Justice and Society, an associate fellow of the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, and a law professor at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He was a professor at UCLA Law School from 1998 to 2007, and has been a consultant to the Ford Foundation and the Asian Development Bank on legal reforms and rule of law in China. Prof. Peerenboom earned a Masters in Chinese Religion for the University of Hawaii, a PhD in Comparative Philosophy from the University of Hawaii, and a JD from Columbia. He is also a CIETAC arbitrator, and frequently serves as expert witness on Chinese legal issues. Recent books include China Modernizes: Threat to the West or Model for the Rest? (Oxford University Press, 2007) and China’s Long March toward Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press, 2002).

Prof. André Nollkaemper is Professor of Public International Law and Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law at the faculty of Law of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He is member of the Advisory Commission on Public International Law of the Netherlands and the Standing Committee of Experts in International Refugee and Criminal Law and of-counsel at Bohler, Franken Koppen Wijngaarden advocaten in Amsterdam. His practical experience includes cases before several international tribunals, courts of the Netherlands, and consultancy for a variety of international and national organisations. Previous academic positions include Fellow of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Visiting Scholar at the School of Law, University of Washington, Seattle and Research fellow at the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS) / Institute of Public International Law, University of Utrecht. Research areas include general public international law; international responsibility, dispute settlement; the relationship between public international law and national law; international environmental law, and international water law.

For more information, please contact Morly Frishman, HiiL Research and Programme Officer, at morly.frishman@hiil.org or +31 (0)70 3494409.