On the afternoon of June 13th,2020. The 5th International Law salon was held as scheduled through DingTalk. The subject of this lecture is “policy implementation in international rulings”, given by Prof. Lihong Zhu, the Law College Vice Dean of China University of Political Science and Law. He is also Vice Secretary-general of Chinese Society of International Law, associate editor-in-chief of Chinese International Law Annual, convener of International Humanitarian Law Interest Group of the Asian Society of International Law, and editor of Chinese Journal of International Law by Cambridge University Press.
There are five sections in the lecture, including the basic theory of legal policy, the basic theory of international legal policy, legal policy in ICJ, legal policy in ITLOS, and theory and practice in international arbitration. Prof. Zhu introduces the basic theory of legal policy generally, including the meaning and types of legal policy, the relation between legal policy and law, the expression of legal policy, and the basic nature and function of legal policy. International legal policy refers to the stable and clear theory, tendency, spirits, value, and the principle that was delivered by a specific International Legal Institution or International Arbitration Institution through judicial precedents, which makes it different from national legal policy. Prof. Zhu also introduces how can international legal policy influence international rulings through treaties, international custom, general legal principle, and Principles of fairness and kindness by going through the cases like Ukraine vs. Russia.
Prof. Zhu introduces international legal policy through jurisdiction, admissibility, and substantive law through the statistical data of litigation and consultative cases that ICJ heard and international practical cases. The international court is trying to enforce legal measures actively in consultative and Jurisdictional immunity cases, however, it chooses to withdraw strictly under legal constraining rules when confronting nuclear-related cases. Prof. Zhu also briefly introduces the policy of legal practice in ITLOS and the theory and practice of legal policy in international arbitration.
Furthermore, Prof. Zhu makes suggestions on current problems about International rulings. He points out that International rulings might be influenced by legal policy, which means there is still a possibility for policy influence on international rulings. Discussions on this issue require both studies on international rulings and attention to the analysis of policy influence on international rulings. At the end of the lecture, Prof. Zhu answers the questions raised by students.
