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Mitchell, Sara McLaughlin and Emilia Justyna Powell. Domestic Law Goes Global: Legal Traditions and International Courts. Forthcoming, Cambridge University Press (2011).

Abstract: We develop a rational legal design theory of international adjudication to explain variation in state support for international courts. The initial negotiators of new courts, the originators, design international courts in ways that are politically and legally optimal. States that join standing international courts, the joiners, look to the court’s legal rules and procedures to assess the ability of the court to be capable, fair, and unbiased. We demonstrate that the characteristics of civil law, common law, and Islamic law influence states’ acceptance of the jurisdiction of international courts, the durability of states’ commitments to international courts, and the design of states’ commitments to the courts. Furthermore, states strike cooperative agreements most effectively in the shadow of an international court that operates according to familiar legal principles and rules. The book’s empirical analyses cover two prominent international courts: the (Permanent) International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

Table of Contents: Chapter 1: The Creation and Expansion of International Courts; Chapter 2: Major Legal Traditions of the World; Chapter 3: A Rational Legal Design Theory of International Adjudication; Chapter 4: Domestic Legal Traditions and the Creation of the International Criminal Court; Chapter 5: Domestic Legal Traditions and State Support for the World Court; Chapter 6: The Rational Design of State Commitments to International Courts; Chapter 7: The Consequences of Support for International Courts; Chapter 8: Conclusion

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