1. Multilevel regime interaction in international law
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Multilevel regime interaction in international law
Nikolaos Giannopoulos
Sustainable Ocean Accommodating New Interests at Sea: Legal Tools for Sustainable Ocean Governance
19 December 2016
Sustainable Ocean | Accommodating New Interests at Sea: Legal Tools for Sustainable Ocean Governance

2. From regime conflicts to regime interaction
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
From regime conflicts to regime interaction
Global problems are regulated by a patchwork of international, transnational and regional regimes.
Traditional international legal literature: interpretation and reconciliation of treaty conflicts
Regime interaction literature: exploitation of synergies between regimes
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

3. What is the definition of “regimes”?
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
What is the definition of “regimes”?
Regime: Non-legal term
Different meaning in diverse literatures
ICJ (1980) : “self-contained” regimes (Tehran hostages case)
ILC (2006): “special regimes”
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

4. Broader definition of regimes in recent literature
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Broader definition of regimes in recent literature
Pulkowksi: arrangements promoting societal goals
Young: “sets of norms, decision-making procedures and organizations coalescing around functional issue-areas and dominated by particular modes of behavior, assumptions and biases”
Inclusion of:
All relevant actors
Wider variety of normative production
Decision making processes
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

5. Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Regime interaction
Normative cross-fertilization and institutional collaboration
Interactions can be: a) conflicting,
b) synergetic, c) neutral
Factors influencing interactions (Young):
Laws developed in different times
Different institutional structures
Not uniform ratification by states
Divergent (and sometimes competing) interests
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

6. Regime interaction in different forms
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Regime interaction in different forms
Young: Interactions take place in: i. disputes,
ii. law making,
iii.implementation
Pulkowski: regime interactions in three characteristic dimensions:
Interaction of goals
Interaction between institution
Interaction between legal norms
Multilevel regime interaction in international law
19 December 2016

7. Legal Risks of Regime Interaction
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Legal Risks of Regime Interaction
Interaction between regimes with/without state consent Risks from regime interaction without formal arrangements: 1. stay may be drawn into regimes they are not parties 2. regime might overreach its mandate 3. entrenching of certain priorities and interests 4. transfer of problematic issues Expressed concern about “managerialism”
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

8. Legal framework for regime interaction
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Legal framework for regime interaction
Multiple legal bases:
I. Parallel membership
II. Mutual Agreements
III. Institutional Arrangements (implied powers doctrine)
Accountable regime interaction: checks and balances
Procedural safeguards (openness, transparency, reason giving)
IGOs as gatekeepers of accountability and legitimacy
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law

9. Thank you for your attention!
Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL)
Thank you for your attention!
19 December 2016
Multilevel regime interaction in international law