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The Rule of Law, the International Legal Order, and the Foreign Policy of Small States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2020

Sundaresh MENON
Sundaresh MENON*
Affiliation:
Supreme Court of Singapore, [email protected]
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Abstract

The rule of law bears a special meaning in the context of the international legal order, where there is no clear vertical hierarchy or sovereign. The international rule of law strives to curb the excess autonomy of individual states for the common good. Although there is considerable scepticism about whether the international rule of law actually exists, states largely do behave as if international law is truly “law”, and international obligations are also more enforceable now than ever before. But there have been and will be moments when the international rule of law is interrupted by major powers. In an interdependent world that is both capable of and prone to inflicting unimaginable destruction, the strategy for small states unable to defend themselves directly is to create the conditions that will best promote their survival, and that is accomplished by pursuing and promoting the rule of law both domestically and internationally.

Type
Invited Articles
Information
Asian Journal of International Law , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 50 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Asian Journal of International Law, 2020

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Footnotes

*

Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Singapore. This paper is based on the S. Rajaratnam Lecture delivered in Singapore on 15 October 2019. I am deeply grateful to my law clerk, Du Xuan, and my colleagues, Assistant Registrars Elton Tan and Kenneth Wang, for all their assistance in the research for and preparation of this lecture.

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