Globalization of Judgment: Transjudicialism and the Five Faces of International Law in Domestic Courts

This Article identifies and explores the justifications or rationales offered by national court judges in support of their references to international human rights law. It does not analyze the extent to which judges invoke international law; rather, it examines the reasons offered by judges to explain their references to international law. The focus is on leading decisions rendered by higher courts in the United States and Commonwealth jurisdictions where the international norms do not bind decision-makers because they have not been made part of domestic law through an act of incorporation, the relevant treaty has not been ratified, or the ratifying state has filed a reservation limiting a treaty's domestic effect.