Systematicity, normativity, and The Nature of International Law

Abstract

This essay offers some critical remarks on Miodrag Jovanovic’s ambitious attempt to deploy arguments developed within analytic legal philosophy to make sense of core features of the international legal order. First, I argue that Jovanovic endorses a common but mistaken reading of H.L.A. Hart’s analysis of international law. Properly understood, Hart’s take on international law is one Jovanovic shares. Second, I raise several objections to Jovanovic’s depiction of (international) law’s normativity, including both his account of what makes law legitimate and his description of the role legitimate law plays in its subjects’ practical reasoning.