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

This article explores distinct yet interrelated justifications offered by national court judges in the United States and Commonwealth jurisdictions in support of their references to international human rights law. In addition, the author discusses the concept of transjudicialism and its potential to transform the women’s human rights movement. Transjudicialism refers to the emerging trend in national and supranational courts to conceive of themselves as members of a larger judicial community, one that transcends national boundaries. With it, we are seeing growing judicial reliance on international human rights norms in national courts, even when an international treaty or any other formal link does not bind them. Though this can prove a positive development in bringing women’s rights to the forefront, it also has the potential to further divide the women’s rights movement. Attitudes and conceptions left over from the years of imperialism may cause indigenous opposition to judges whom, by invoking international norms, they view as imperialistic. The challenge for women’s rights advocates and scholars in the era of transjudicialism will be to develop a set of principles that frames the relationship between the national and international in a way that promotes women’s rights.