Library Guides: J. Shand Watson: Scholarship

Scholarship

Theory and Reality in the International Protection of Human Rights by J. Shand Watson
Publication Date: 1999
Many theories and propositions have been advanced on the tacit assumption that international law encompasses the protection of human rights. Very few, if any, question the validity of this position. Here is a book that does. Theory and Reality in the International Protection of Human Rights presents a defense of the traditional theory of international law-based on a decentralized nation-state system of international relation--as being more appropriate for the analysis of its subject than more recent variants that allow for supranational redress at an increasingly personal level. In particular, Professor Watson shows how the proponents of the international human rights regime persistently use a legislative mode of reasoning, and how international law cannot sustain this technique. He holds that violation of the right to life is best adjudicated within a customary system, and concludes that the validity of the norms of international human rights has yet to be demonstrated. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.
The Year Book Of World Affairs by George W. Keeton & Georg Schwarzenberger, eds.
Publication Date: 1980
Chapter: A Realistic Jurisprudence of International Law

Articles

"Normativity and Reality in International Human Rights Law," 13 Stetson Law Review, 221 (1984)

Jurisdiction and Control Over Multinational Enterprises: De Maximis Non Curat Lex, 27 Mercer L. Rev. 493 (1976)

Autointerpretation,Competence and the Continuing Validity of Article 2(7) of the UN Charter, 71 American Journal of International Law, 60 (1977)

Reply to Prof. Paust, 71 American Journal of International Law, 751, (1977)

Legal Theory, Efficacy and Validity in the Development of Human Rights Norms in International Law, 1979 Universitv of Illinois Law Forum, 609

Panels & Papers

Panelist: "Perspectives on Enforcement of Human Rights." Paper presented: "The Limited Utility of International Law in the Protection of Human Rights." 74th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law,Washington, D.C., April 17th, 1980.

Panelist: "Instant Custom and the United Nations General Assembly." Paper presented: "Limitations on the Validity of 'Instant Custom' as a source of international Law." 23rd Annual Convention of the International Studies Association,Cincinnati,Ohio, March 25th, 1982.

Panelist: "Ethics in a Divided World." Paper presented: "Normativity and Reality in International Human Rights Law," Stetson University, April 15, 1983.

Panelist: "The Jurisprudence of International Law." Paper presented: "In Defense of a Voluntarist Conception of International Law." 86th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, Washington, D.C., April 2nd, 1992.

"The Limited Utility of International Law in the Protection of Human Rights," Proceedings of the American Society of lnternational Law, 1 (1980)

"A Realistic Jurisprudence of International Law," reprinted in INTERNATIONAL LAW, (M. Koskenniemi, editor) a volume of the INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF ESSAYS IN LAW AND LEGAL THEORY, (New York Univ. Press, 1992)

"State Consent and the Sources of International Obligation," Proceedings of the American Society of International Law, 108 (1992)