Discourses of Political Policing in Post-patten Northern Ireland

This article critically examines discourses of political policing in contemporary Northern Ireland (NI). Recognising the post-conflict and post-reform climate that policing now occurs within, it argues that these environmental factors have conditioned discourses of policing that are directly tied to how legitimate political opposition to the political status quo in post-Good Friday Agreement (GFA) NI is policed. The article asserts that political policing discourses have taken a new trajectory that departs from traditional ethno-nationalist interpretations of the issue to instead reflect a broader structuralist interpretation of state-police power relations. It concludes with the argument that political policing discourses have evolved to reflect common class-based disillusionment with the post-GFA state across the political divide that sees the matter rooted in police protection of a system of devolved governance that has failed to tackle structural exclusion and socio-economic deprivation.     

The Belfast Agreement,the Purloined Letter and the ``Politics of the Ostrich'

Jacques Lacan's Seminar on The PurloinedLetter gives centrality to the operation ofthe signifier in the construction of thesubject, rather than to any `content' thatmight pertain to the signifier. In Lacan'saccount, the trajectory of the signifier isorganised around three intersubjectivepositions: seeing, not seeing and seeingoneself not being seen. This article, in anexamination of the operation of `the nation' asan origin for legal authority in the 1998Belfast Agreement, will explore the relevanceof Lacan's insight to the questions ofsovereignty and authority thrown up by legaltransition in Northern Ireland. In particular,this article will explore the way in whichnation is `suspended' as a foundation of legalauthority from the administrative discourse ofthe Belfast Agreement, but remains a potentpoint of legal and political identification.This will be done by treating `the nation' notin terms of its capacity to represent thefoundation of legal authority, but as asignifier whose displacement from `grand'aspirational constitutional discourse to themore `banal' administrative discourse of theBelfast Agreement operates to reconfigure legaland political identification.     

Towards a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights

The political settlement resulting from the Belfast Agreement recognisedthe fundamental importance of the issue of rights to a stable peace inNorthern Ireland. Indeed, the agreement provided for a Human RightsCommission, one of whose tasks is the drafting of a Bill of Rights thatwill reflect the political reality of the province. This paper arguesthat the proposed document will have to reflect an understanding ofrights and their protection resulting from the particular history ofNorthern Ireland. This specific understanding of rights appeared firstin the Anglo-Irish Agreement and has been gradually developed andconsolidated in the political agreements since. The planned NorthernIreland Bill of Rights will have to reflect this rights thinking. Thearticle also chronicles the recent work of the Northern Ireland HumanRights Commission in drafting the Bill of Rights to be presented to theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland in February 2002. Thereciprocal, if belated, moves in the Republic to set up its own humanrights commission will also be addressed as part of the process to drawup a Charter of Rights for the whole people of Ireland.     

Northern Irish legal education after Brexit

ABSTRACT

In this article we argue that the impact of Brexit on the law schools in Northern Ireland is tied to the “unique circumstances” of legal education in this part of the world. Legal education in Northern Ireland is likely to develop to become even more distinctive than that in other parts of the UK. Although there are two distinct jurisdictions on the island, they are deeply entangled by shared history and geographical proximity that make cross-border practice a daily reality. These circumstances seem likely to drive the trajectory of the development of legal education in Northern Ireland. Indeed, EU law is likely to remain a component of the Northern Irish qualifying law degree. The potential for the development of law specific to Northern Ireland under backstop arrangements is another significant driver for the future orientation of legal education in this jurisdiction. Legal education in Northern Ireland is, therefore, likely to become noticeably more “European” than that in other parts of the UK.     

Habermas on Democracy and Justice. Limits of a Sound Conception

Abstract . The author outlines limitations of the explanation capacity of Habermas's Discourse Philosophy, because of its problematic presuppositions. The main topics discussed are: (i) the legitimacy of legal systems; (ii) Habermas's concept of democracy; (iii) his theory of justice. Legitimacy cannot be based only on discourse processes, but it has to be defined by international law. Discourses in society are essential for democratic systems, but the discourses by themselves do not guarantee the optimal result as discourses may be disturbed by deceptive propaganda, by prejudices or by wrong political slogans. It is not convincing that discourse procedures guarantee impartiality and justice nor that in discourses better arguments always prevail.     

Law, Struggle, and Political Transformation in Northern Ireland

This article analyses the role of law as an element of the Republican Movement's violent and political struggle during the Northern Ireland conflict. The trials and legal hearings of paramilitary defendants, the use of judicial reviews in the prisons, and the use of law in the political arena are chosen as three interconnected sites which highlight the complex interaction between law and other forms of struggle. The author argues that these three sites illustrate a number of themes in understanding the role of law in processes of struggle and political transformation. These include: law as a series of dialogical processes both inside and outside a political movement; law as an instrumental process of struggle designed to materially and symbolically 'resist'; and the constitutive effects of legal struggle upon a social and political movement. The article concludes with a discussion as to whether or not Republicans' emphasis upon 'rights and equality' and an end to armed struggle represents a 'sell out' of traditional Republican objectives.     

Northern Ireland Dimensions to the First Decade of the United Kingdom Supreme Court

This article focuses on the relationship between the United Kingdom Supreme Court and Northern Ireland over the course of a constitutionally significant period of time, namely the first decade of the Court's existence. It does this by exploring what difference the Court has made to the law of Northern Ireland, what significance the cases from Northern Ireland have had for the law in other parts of the United Kingdom, and what part has been played in the Court's work by the sole Justice from Northern Ireland, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, and by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC. It concludes that the Court has established itself as an indispensable component of the legal system of Northern Ireland.     

国际投资与环境保护的法律冲突与协调——以晚近区域性投资条约及相关案例为研究对象

经济一体化所带来的环境损害已成为国际社会关注的焦点问题之一。国际社会已开始尝试运用贸易投资条约防范贸易投资自由化带来的消极环境影响。以《北美自由贸易协定》为代表的国际投资法立法新模式,在其投资章节中规定了环境条款,试图兼顾投资自由和环境保护两种利益需求。虽然实践表明,该协定仍然没有有效协调投资与环境保护之间的关系,并在执行上出现了诸多法律冲突,但该协议所彰显的贸易投资自由化不得以牺牲环境为代价的立法理念和原则,可能会成为未来国际经济法中重要的理念和原则,将会对未来国际投资法和国际经济法的发展产生重大而深远的影响。     

What Did the Lawyers Do During the ‘War’? Neutrality,Conflict and the Culture of Quietism

Using Northern Ireland as a case study, this paper explores how lawyers responded to the challenges of entrenched discrimination, sustained political violence and an emerging peace process. Drawing upon the literature of the sociology of lawyering, it examines whether lawyers can or should be more than ‘paid technicians’ in such circumstances. It focuses in particular upon a number of ‘critical junctures’ in the legal history of the jurisdiction and uncouples key elements of the local legal culture which contributed to an ethos of quietism. The paper argues that the version of legal professionalism that emerged in Northern Ireland was contingent and socially constructed and, with notable exceptions, obfuscated a collective failure of moral courage. It concludes that facing the truth concerning past silence is fundamental to a properly embedded rule of law and a more grounded notion of what it means to be a lawyer in a conflict.     

A Model for the ‘War Against Terrorism’? Military Intervention in Northern Ireland and the 1970 Falls Curfew

This paper questions the claim that British militarized security strategy in Northern Ireland offers a model for the global 'war against terrorism' by exploring the critically important (though neglected) 'Falls Curfew' episode. Part one explores the relationship between law, legitimacy, and the role of the military in democracies experiencing violent conflict. Part two examines the operationalization of the law on military intervention during the curfew, drawing on archival material and employing empirical studies. Part three draws overall conclusions, relating the contribution that the curfew made to the escalation of the conflict to its operational aspects and legal underpinnings. Failings are identified, and some general lessons drawn out about the dangers of a 'war' model in complex and violent political disorders.     

Making War on Terror? Global Lessons from Northern Ireland

In place of the simple modelling employed in anti-terrorist legal discourse, this article posits an interactive model of the relationship between the state and violent political actors, exploring law's role in both the repression and mobilisation of challengers. Drawing on social movement theory, it hypothesises a process of 'legally implicated mobilisation' which takes account both of law's presence and its partial absence in 'legal grey zones' during violent conflict, and it suggests how law may impact upon key elements of the mobilisation process. The hypothesis is applied to qualitative data from Northern Ireland on violent challengers. The data point to the importance of 'messaging' about law in the state of exception, supporting claims that law can have a 'damping' effect on violent conflict. The relationship between repression and violence is partly symbiotic, and in the global 'war on terror,' prisoner-abuse may have a mobilising effect on violent challengers.     

'A New Beginning' for Policing

The paper provides an idiosyncratic view of the framework developed by the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland in response to the call for a 'new beginning' for policing in Northern Ireland in the Belfast Agreement signed on 10 April 1998.     

A Court as the Process of Signification: Legal Semiotics of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons in 1996 was a landmark case because, for the first time in history, the legal aspect of nuclear weapons was addressed. The decision has evoked controversies regarding the Court’s conclusion, the legal status of international humanitarian law in relation to nuclear weapons, and a newly introduced concept of state survival. While much legal scholarship discusses and criticizes the legal significance of the opinion, there has not been enough scholarship examining the Court’s specific choice of words and concepts that sustain its wider ideological and political position in the opinion. The paper argues that the Court’s vague and controversial logic is attributed to its confrontation with two international orders/codes: the legal order (or international law) and the political order (or state practice). The paper engages in legal semiotics as methodology to decode legal text and discover a deep structure that sustains networks of codes, according to which text is interpreted. Through the semiotic examination of three sets of key concepts (1) “permitted” and “prohibited,” (2) “threat of use” and “possession of the weapon,” and (3) “state survival,” the paper shows the ICJ’s confrontation with two orders/codes and eventual prioritization of the political order over the international legal order. The analysis of the opinion based on legal semiotics indicates an intimate and inseparable relationship between state practice and international law, which must be disentangled for the sake of the rule of law.     

Pragmatic Resistance,Law, and Social Movements in Authoritarian States: The Case of Gay Collective Action in Singapore

This article draws from a qualitative study of Singapore's gay movement to analyze how gay organizing occurs in authoritarian states, and where and how law matters. Singapore's gay activists engage in “strategic adaptation” to deploy a strategy of pragmatic resistance that involves an interplay among legal restrictions and cultural norms. Balancing the movement's survival with its advancement, they shun direct confrontation, and avoid being seen as a threat to the existing political order. As legal restrictions and as a source of legitimacy, law correspondingly oppresses sexual conduct and civil‐political liberties, and culturally delegitimizes dissent. However, when activists mount pragmatic resistance at and through law, it also matters as a source of contestation. Further, law matters as a trade‐off between reifying the existing order in exchange for survival and immediate gains. Yet, by treating law as purely tactical, these activists arguably end up de‐centering law, being pragmatically unconcerned with whether they are ideologically challenging or being co‐opted by it.     

Human rights and the peace process in Northern Ireland

The notion that the abuse of human rights leads to conflict has been recognised by commentators and international legal instruments. Human rights activists in Northern Ireland have long argued that the failure on the part of the government to comply with its international obligations to protect rights has exacerbated the conflict. This essay is predicated on the thesis that, as issues of justice and the abuse of rights were central to the genesis of the conflict, they must also be the seminal strands in the search for peace. By way of an audit measured against the proposals of human rights activists and the recommendations of international institutions charged with assessing UK compliance with human rights treaties, the essay examines the changes in the human rights situation in Northern Ireland since the declarations of the ceasefires. The discussion draws on the experience of other jurisdictions to support its central thesis. Finally, the reasons for the UK reluctance to adopt a more rights-centred approach to peace negotiations are outlined, and the practical benefits which would result from such an approach is considered. Committee on the Administration of Justice The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CAJ.     

补贴与国际投资的关系及与国际立法趋势的冲突

投资鼓励措施在本质上是一种补贴 ,应当归属WTO管辖范畴。广泛存在的投资鼓励措施与当今国际投资立法的大趋势是相冲突的 ,与国际投资自由化要求的市场准入、国民待遇等核心规则不符合 ,并产生了扭曲投资的消极后果。投资鼓励措施与补贴与反补贴措施协议的冲突 ,揭示出逐步消除投资鼓励措施是全球经济一体化和国际投资自由化的必然要求 ,也是WTO多边贸易体制的要求。     

What Happens to Law in a Refugee Camp?

How do people living in a refugee camp engage with legal practices, discourses, and institutions? Critics argue that refugee camps leave people in “legal limbo” depriving them of the “right to have rights” despite the presence of international humanitarian actors and the entitlements enshrined in international law. For that reason, refugee camps have become a highly visible symbol of failed human rights campaigns. In contrast, I found in an ethnography of the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, West Africa, that although people living as refugees faced chronic insecurity and injustice, they engaged extensively with several different facets of the law. I illuminate three interrelated dimensions of their experiences: (1) their development as international legal subjects; (2) their alienation from domestic legal institutions; and (3) their agency within the legal field. The article contributes to the research agenda on law in humanitarian settings an empirically grounded account of the subjective dimensions of legal alienation and mobilization in a refugee camp. More broadly, it contributes to international human rights debates by theorizing a mixed outcome of international human rights campaigns: the emergence of wards of international law, people deeply embedded in the international legal system, but alienated from local law.     

凯尔森的国际法治理论及其现实意义

随着全球化程度的不断深入,对和平与安全的期盼使得国际法治成为国际社会的理想与目标。为了建立以和平为目标的国际法律秩序,凯尔森提出了国际法治理论,即通过有强制管辖权的国际法院和确立个人违反国际法的责任来构建世界和平。本文将以此为基础,探讨凯尔森的国际法治理论对国际刑事秩序法治化所具有的现实意义,分析国际刑事法院在实现国际刑事法治化过程中面临的政治制约因素,以期国际刑事法治和国际法治的进一步完善和发展。     

Foreign Occupation and International Territorial Administration: The Challenges of Convergence

International organizations have increasingly joined statesas occupiers of territory. Yet international law doctrine andpolicymakers have regarded occupation by states and administrationby international organizations as distinct legal and politicalphenomena. The stigma associated with state occupation has translatedinto an assumption that the two operations are governed by differentnorms and their tactics for asserting control subject to differentstandards of legitimacy. This article rejects that dichotomyand the doctrinal parsing that comes with it. It emphasizesthe common traits and challenges of these occupations and arguesfor a joint legal and political appraisal. From the legal perspective,the two sorts of missions operate under common legal frameworks;those managing both need to find the proper balance among internationalhumanitarian law, international human rights law, local law,and any mandate from an international organization. As a politicalmatter, each encounters resistance from those in the territoryopposed to its presence, leading to coercive responses whoselegitimacy will be questioned from within and outside the territory.The article concludes with some modest thoughts on how eachsort of occupier might learn something from the other.     

我国政法教育的变迁与展望

政法教育形成于1950年代,基于巩固新生政权的需要,它为政法工作培养专门干部。与政法工作强调政治性一样,政法教育是强调政治性的法学教育,非常重视党的政治路线和组织纪律教育。改革开放后,法学教育日趋强调专业化、职业化。20世纪80年代,仍继续强调政治性。这与当时的社会治安形势及“严打”刑事政策有一定关系。1990年代以后,政治性在政法教育中日渐淡出,法学教育趋向服务市场经济的专业化。新时代的治国理政,在法治领域创造了一系列新实践,法治思维和法治方式运用深入政治领域,国家和社会治理广泛纳入全面依法治国范畴,涉外法治深度关联国际政治、国际关系。这些实践造就了强调政治性的大法治工作格局,对法学教育提出了新要求,催生了新政法教育。党内法规学、纪检监察学、国家安全学、社会治理法学等新学科应运而生,人权法学、知识产权法学等学科应需更新。新政法教育与专业化法学教育并行,扩展了法学教育的领地。