International Rule of Law or Rule of Law Among Nations? The General Assembly of UN and The Rule Of Law

Abstract

Ten years ago with the adoption of the Resolution 61/39 the Rule of Law at the national and international levels, the General Assembly of UN established –for the first time– an express distinction between domestic and international aspects of the Rule of Law and its promotion. Since the adoption of this resolution, the General Assembly has focused the debate on the study of the international aspects of the Rule of Law from the definition proposed by the Secretary General in his Report the Rule of Law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict Societies. From this perspective, the General Assembly has been trying to externalize to the international realm some elements of the Rule of Law in order to be applied directly to the field of international relations. On this context we will identify those elements of the Rule of Law which have been extrapolated to the international level, within the practice of the General Assembly, in order to highlight the Rule of Law among Nations which is different from the International Rule of Law that has been developed by the Anglo-American doctrine.