| This paper develops a theory of international human rights law's relationship to domestic law that mediates between local values and international law's ambition to govern. It is divided into four parts. Chapter I explores the strengths and weaknesses of various existing approaches to the domestic use of international law. Chapter II identifies five rationales invoked by Commonwealth courts to justify their reliance on international law. Chapter III develops an approach to international law's relationship to domestic law that is grounded in the case law and that builds on the strengths of existing theories while seeking to address their shortcomings. Chapter IV turns to some of the theoretical questions posed by the invocation of international norms in divergent cultural and legal contexts. Are divergent interpretations permissible? Are they avoidable? Drawing on Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutic philosophy, it concludes that the same norm can give rise to divergent meanings without succumbing to relativism. |
