OUVRAGE : O. de Frouville, From Cosmopolitanism to Human Rights

Olivier de FROUVILLE

This book explores a democratic theory of international law. Characterised by a back-and-forth between theory and practice, it explores the question from two perspectives: a theoretical level which reflects and criticizes the categories, words and concepts through which international law is understood, and a more applied level focussing on 'cosmopolitan building sites' or the practical features of the law, such as the role of civil society in international organisations or reform of the UN Security Council. Though written for an academic audience, it will have a more general appeal and be of interest to all those concerned with how international governance is developing.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface, Philipp Allot

Introduction

PART I
ELEMENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 

1. What is Legal Cosmopolitanism?

I. Cosmopolitan Sentiment and Phenomenology of the Relation to Others
II. Relation to the Other and Society
III. From Cosmopolitan Feeling to Legal Cosmopolitanism

2. On the Theory of the International Constitution

I. Georges Scelle's Concept of the International Constitution
II. A Theory of the International Constitution Based on a Democratic Theory of International Law
III. An Overview of the Evolution of the International Constitution
IV. Conclusion

3. A Cosmopolitan Perspective on the Responsibility to Protect

I. Analysis of the Pivotal Concepts of R2P
II. Outline Reconstruction of a Cosmopolitan Theory of Humanitarian Intervention

4. Justifying International Law, Defending Cosmopolitanism

I. Cosmopolitanism as the Flip Side of Neoliberalism
II. Cosmopolitanism as the Construction of a Rootless Individualist
III. The Theoretical and Practical Impossibility of World Politics
IV. A Few Seemingly Inconsequential Thoughts by Way of an Inconclusive Conclusion…

5. A Critical Defence of Human Rights

I. The Critical 'Positivist' Approach
II. The External Critical Approach Contesting 'Rights'
III. The External Critical Approach Defending Human Rights

6. Natural Law, Human Rights, the Law of Nature: Towards a Revived Modernity

I. The Discourse of Sovereignty and Voluntarism
II. The Discourse of Human Rights
III. The Discourse of Nature

7. Towards a Democratic Theory of International Law

I. The Theoretical Structure of Classical International Law
II. Cosmopolitan Projects: A Democratic Conception of International Law
III. The Bases for a Democratic Theory of International Law

PART II
TOWARDS WORLD CITIZENSHIP: 'COSMOPOLITAN BUILDING SITES' 

8. Civil Society's Role in International Organisations. Theory(ies) and Practice(s)

I. The Obvious Point
II. An Unthought-of Point

9. Building a Universal System for the Protection of Human Rights: The Way Forward

I. Change or Continuity: Has the Establishment of the Council Really Changed Anything in the Universal System of Human Rights Protection?
II. Is the UPR a Real Added Value to the System?
III. Why the Council does not Represent a Real Progress for the Universal Human Rights Protection System
IV. Towards Progress: How Could the System for the Protection of Human Rights Evolve in the Future?

10. Why Do We Need a United Nations Court of Human Rights?

I. The Origins of the Idea of a Universal Court of Human Rights
II. The Present Context Justifying the New Impetus Behind the Idea: The Necessary Reform of the Universal System of Protection of Human Rights
III. Responses to Some Objections on Principle
IV. Realisation of the Idea of a United Nations Court of Human Rights

11. The Committee System: 2020 and Beyond 

12. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 70 Years Old: What Challenges Await the United Nations?

I. A Legal Basis for Action
II. An Intellectual Challenge
III. An Institutional Challenge
IV. The Normative Challenge

13. Reforming the Security Council: What can be Done Without Amending the UN Charter?

I. The Concepts
II. The Processes
III. The Outcomes
IV. Conclusion

14. The Right to Veto in the United Nations: Towards the Abolition of a Privilege Universal System of Protection of Human Rights

Olivier de FROUVILLE, From Cosmopolitanism to Human Rights, London, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2022 (296 pp.)