Applying the Law in the National, International and European Context: Applied Global Legal Pluralism

Abstract

The application of the law, in the variety of global legal situations, has its own dynamism. It cannot result from the mere application of a method or a legal solution at a given moment, in a predetermined space and on a predetermined level, by a duly identified actor. It must be grasped in one movement. In a single situation, several laws must sometimes be mobilised, alternatively, cumulatively, at the same time or at different moments, in one or several spaces or on one or several levels, by one or by multiple actors. This distinctive dynamic, which the lawyer must be conscious of when passing from one context – national, international or European – to another, has an influence over the law, its uses and, sometimes, its content. The present working paper is a general introduction to this approach: it will be followed by three further papers specifying the different steps to be followed: the comparison, combination and hierarchization of the methods and solutions of national, international and European law that the lawyer must use to resolve his case.