Flags at the UN
Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions

Overview

The Discovery Project builds on the work of the ‘Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions’ an ANU Global Research Partnerships Project which explored the challenges posed to the international, rules-based legal order by populist groundswells in a growing number of countries around the world, including Brazil, Hungary, Italy, the Philippines and the United States. The Backlash project brought together interdisciplinary scholars and policymakers from the Australian National University, Indiana University, and the University of Maryland. The project produced a series of workshops in Australia and the United States that interrogated the impact of rising global political instability on the global legal order.

Fields of research

International Law; Human Rights and Justice Issues, Law, Governance and Development, Military and Security Law. 

Chief Investigators

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Professor Jeremy Farrall

Professor Jolyon Ford

Associate Professor Imogen Saunders

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Professor Peter G. Danchin

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON

Professor Shruti Rana

Project outputs

  • P. Danchin, J. Farrall, J. Ford, S. Rana, I. Saunders and D. Verhoeven, ‘Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 33 (available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675536 ).
  • P. Danchin, J. Farrall, S. Rana and I. Saunders. ‘The Pandemic Paradox in International Law’ (2020) 114 The American Journal of International Law (available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675519).
  • J. Farrall, ‘The Populist Challenge and the Future of the United Nations Security Council’ (2020) 35 Maryland Journal of International Law 73 (available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3611535 ).
  • J. Farrall, ‘The UN Security Council’s response to COVID-19’ https://law.anu.edu.au/research/essay/covid-19-and-international-law/un-security-council%E2%80%99s-response-covid-19 (in conjunction with the ANU College of Law’s COVID-19 and International Law series).
  • J. Farrall, J. Ford, & I. Saunders, ‘The Backlash Against International Law: Australian Perspectives’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 29..
  • J. Ford, ‘The Multilateral Human Rights System: Systemic Challenge or Healthy Contestation?’ (2020) 35 Maryland Journal of International Law 90 (, available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3634293 ).
  • S. Rana, ‘COVID-19’s gendered fault lines and their implications for international law’ https://law.anu.edu.au/research/essay/covid-19-and-international-law/covid-19%E2%80%99s-gendered-fault-lines-and-their-implications (in conjunction with the ANU College of Law’s COVID-19 and International Law series).
  • I. Saunders, ‘Populism, Backlash and the Ongoing Use of the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement System: State Responses to the Appellate Body Crisis’ (2020) 35 Maryland Journal of International Law 172 (available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675519).
  • I. Saunders, ‘Populism and pandemics: Backlashes against international law and COVID-19’ https://law.anu.edu.au/research/essay/covid-19-and-international-law/populism-and-pandemics-backlashes-against (in conjunction with the ANU College of Law’s COVID-19 and International Law series).
  • A number of these publications feature in a special issue of the Australian Yearbook of International Law:. Which presents the best papers from the Canberra Backlash Workshop in June 2019:
  • J. Farrall, J. Ford, & I. Saunders, ‘The Backlash Against International Law: Australian Perspectives’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 29().
  • P. Danchin, J. Farrall, J. Ford, S. Rana, I. Saunders and D. Verhoeven, ‘Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 33(, available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675536 )
  • C. Michaelsen, ‘Collective Security and the Prohibition on the Use of Force in Times of Global Transition’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 78().
  • C. Jacob, ‘The Status of Human Protection in International Law and Institutions: The United Nations Prevention and Protection Architecture’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 110().
  • I. Saunders, ‘Navigating the Backlash: Re-Integrating WTO and Public International Law’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 134(available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675566 )
  • M. Richardson, ‘Navigating the ‘Backlash’ against International Trade and Investment Liberalisation: Economic Perspectives on the Future of Regional Trade Agreements in Uncertain Times’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 157().
  • J. Ford, ‘Backlash against a Rules-Based International Human Rights Order? An Australian Perspective’ 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 175(available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3675496 )
  • A. Devereux, ‘Amidst Simmering Tensions: Improving the Effectiveness and Coherence of the International Human Rights System’s Response to Mass Human Rights Violations’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law 199).
  • K. Ogg, ‘Backlashes against International Commitments and Organisations: Migration as Restorative Justice’ (2020) 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law (230).

Backlash workshops

  • ‘Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions: Australian Perspectives’ (ANU, 17-18 June 2019)
  • ‘Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions’ (Indiana University, 14-15 October 2019)
  • ‘The Populist Challenge to the International Legal Order’ (University of Maryland, 17-18 October 2019)

Each workshop drew together academics, practitioners and government lawyers. Academic institutions represented included the Australian National University, Indiana University, the University of Maryland, the University of New South Wales, the University of Canberra, Georgetown University, American University, the University of Baltimore, Howard University, the University of Pittsburgh, John Hopkins University, the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, the University of Miami, St Louis University and New York Law School. Government/policy-maker representatives included participants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Attorney-Generals’ Department, the Department of Environment and Energy, the Australian Embassy in the United States, Americans for Financial Reform and Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights.

Events

Project start

2018

Project status

Continuing as the ARC-funded ‘Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era’