International Relations

International Law
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develop and how actors exert normative authority. This goes beyond
understanding international law exclusively as a coherent legal system with
recognised sources of law and specific techniques of legal practice.
International lawyers increasingly adopt a more pluralistic and holistic outlook
and an understanding of international law as a social process. This social
process results in normative regulations that function as standards of conduct
to guide and evaluate the behaviour of international actors. That the individual
has acquired such a prominent role in international law as a central subject
beyond state confines is truly remarkable. Today, each individual has rights
that permeate the international and that are fundamentally embedded in an –
albeit imperfect – global law which in turn permeates each of our lives. This
law is not static but in a constant process of development. It requires to be
made effective, challenged, defended and reformulated in order to fulfil its
emancipatory potential.