The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity

International environmental law has a dual nature being both formal (attached to explicit state will) and instrumental (detached from explicit state will). In this chapter it is argued that normativity of international environmental legal norms is relativised due to the softening of hard law and har...

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Huvudupphov: Niko Soininen
Materialtyp: Online
Språk:engelska
Utgiven: Edward Elgar Publishing 2021
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author Niko Soininen
author_browse Niko Soininen
author_facet Niko Soininen
author_sort Niko Soininen
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description International environmental law has a dual nature being both formal (attached to explicit state will) and instrumental (detached from explicit state will). In this chapter it is argued that normativity of international environmental legal norms is relativised due to the softening of hard law and hardening of soft law. The softening of hard law is caused primarily by the interpretative nature of language and the interplay between formalism and instrumentalism as interpretative paradigms. As a consequence, the normative content of hard law is always a matter of interpretation which by default causes hard law to be more or less indeterminate. The hardening of soft law is visible inter alia in the informal legal status that several soft law instruments such as UN resolutions, accords, executive board decisions and informal initiatives may enjoy through their legitimacy and effectiveness. This results in some soft law instruments gaining relative legal effect even when lacking formal legal status. Based on these observations it is concluded that the normativity or validity of legal norms in international environmental law can only be evaluated after a careful analysis of all the traces of normativity (form, legitimacy and effectiveness) at play.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-635382023-12-20T16:24:42Z The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity Niko Soininen K1-7720 normativity International environmental law soft law hard law legal norms bic Book Industry Communication::L Law International environmental law has a dual nature being both formal (attached to explicit state will) and instrumental (detached from explicit state will). In this chapter it is argued that normativity of international environmental legal norms is relativised due to the softening of hard law and hardening of soft law. The softening of hard law is caused primarily by the interpretative nature of language and the interplay between formalism and instrumentalism as interpretative paradigms. As a consequence, the normative content of hard law is always a matter of interpretation which by default causes hard law to be more or less indeterminate. The hardening of soft law is visible inter alia in the informal legal status that several soft law instruments such as UN resolutions, accords, executive board decisions and informal initiatives may enjoy through their legitimacy and effectiveness. This results in some soft law instruments gaining relative legal effect even when lacking formal legal status. Based on these observations it is concluded that the normativity or validity of legal norms in international environmental law can only be evaluated after a careful analysis of all the traces of normativity (form, legitimacy and effectiveness) at play. 2021-02-12T10:29:32Z 2021-02-12T10:29:32Z 2019-03-05 15:10:01 2016 chapter 32391 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/63538 eng image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784714642/9781784714642.00017.xml Edward Elgar Publishing 10.4337/9781784714659 10.4337/9781784714659 01ceac28-75b4-492a-8eec-f9b98bc6b28c 9781784714659 9781784714642 28 open access
spellingShingle K1-7720
normativity
International environmental law
soft law
hard law
legal norms
bic Book Industry Communication::L Law
Niko Soininen
The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title_full The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title_fullStr The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title_full_unstemmed The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title_short The structure, form and language of international environmental norms – from absolute to relative normativity
title_sort structure form and language of international environmental norms from absolute to relative normativity
topic K1-7720
normativity
International environmental law
soft law
hard law
legal norms
bic Book Industry Communication::L Law
topic_facet K1-7720
normativity
International environmental law
soft law
hard law
legal norms
bic Book Industry Communication::L Law
url 32391
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