NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE in INTERNATIONAL LAW-MAKING a Dissertation Presented To
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GLOBAL LAW ENTREPRENEURS: NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW-MAKING A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of the Science of Law by Anna Dolidze August 2013 © 2013 Anna Dolidze GLOBAL LAW ENTREPRENEURS: NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW-MAKING Anna Dolidze, J.S.D. Cornell University 2013 Increased participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in international lawmaking is hardly questioned in scholarship. NGOs use different means to affect international lawmaking, including acting as complainants and providing legal advice to the petitioners. However, in what particular way do NGOs influence international lawmaking? The dissertation answers this question by examining how NGOs utilize the procedural instrument of amicus curiae intervention before international tribunals. The dissertation shows that amicus curiae interventions by NGOs have become commonplace in international adjudication. In general, amicus curiae participation procedure serves as a legitimacy-enhancing mechanism for international tribunals. Scholars agree that in order to maintain legitimacy the international tribunals must stay cognizant of the values and preferences of stakeholders. Amicus intervention procedure is one of the mechanisms through which tribunals gather information about the values and attitudes of constituencies and communities subject to their lawmaking. Moreover, NGOs as amicus interveners act as “global law entrepreneurs”: they provide the tribunals with information as well as continuously support international lawmaking and advocate for its expansion. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Anna Dolidze is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario. Dolidze's research interests are in international law, human rights, and law and development. Dolidze has published in international law journals, peer-reviewed publications and collected volumes. Anna has also authored reports for a number of international organizations, including the United Nations Development Program and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Dolidze received her BA/LLB summa cum laude from Tbilisi State University and an LLM in International Law from the University of Leiden. Dolidze has taught and held visiting fellowships at the New York University Law School, Harriman Institute of Columbia University, and Duke University. In the past, Dolidze has worked with a number of international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Russian Justice Initiative, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and Save the Children. In 2004-2006, Dolidze was the President of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, one of the largest legal advocacy organizations in Georgia. In 2009, Atlantik-Brücke selected Dolidze as a "Young European Leader." DEDICATION iii To Nana and Valery iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not be possible without the invaluable support of many people. The list is long. In the process of writing this dissertation, I have been fortunate to have met many people who were willing to help in different ways, including by commenting on drafts, involving me and hosting at conferences, dedicating their time to discussing ideas mentioned in this dissertation, and tending to Andro as I was writing. Without these individuals, especially the select few I’m about to mention, I would not have gotten to where I am today. I’d like to give special thanks to Muna Ndulo, who agreed to chair my dissertation committee and who has mentored me through the process. Professor Ndulo served as a role model for what it is to be a mentor, a colleague, a scholar, and an intellectual dedicated to the idea of justice. I am greatly indebted to the support and mentorship of Professor Mitchell Lasser and Professor Sidney Tarrow. Both encouraged me at every step throughout my graduate study. I greatly benefited from their mentorship and the long hours they devoted to discussing my project. My gratitude is also extended to Dean Charles Cramton, who has known the answer to every question I’ve ever asked him. He has always been a tremendous help no matter the task or circumstance. Next I’d like to thank Cornell University faculty whose support and mentorship has played a significant role in my life: Valerie Hans, Matthew Evangelista, Valerie Bunce, Gregory Alexander, Aziz Rana, and Thomas McSweeney. I must mention my dear friends in Ithaca, New York, who have extended a helping hand and their emotional support in the toughest moments: Anne-Claire Jamart, Esteban Hoyos, Sergio Latorre, Ashley Imus and her daughter Lia, Rose Casey and her family, Stephanie DeGooyer, Chris Garces, Esther Fernandez, Buhm- v Suk Baek, Kerem Gulay, Theresa Krüggeler, Toby Goldbach, Hanna Haile, Han Wooyong, Sabrina Kolmakova, and Susan Hazeldean and her family. Bridget Meeds and her family deserve particular mention. It is thanks to the efforts of the Board Members of the Ithaca City of Asylum that for the past four years Ithaca has been home for me and my family. I am also grateful to the residents of Telluride House in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 alongside its administration and staff, who played an instrumental role in allowing me the piece of mind to complete this project. I am particularly grateful that despite the physical distance, my Georgian friends have remained immensely supportive in the process of dissertation-writing. There are too many to be mentioned. Their encouragement and belief has inspired me throughout the last five years. With their unwavering support and generous help, my siblings, Merab Dolidze, Tamar Dolidze, and Nato Dolidze, were a continuous source of laughter, joy, and encouragement throughout this process. One could not wish for a better or more supportive sibling than my young sister Nato. She has been ready to help whenever and wherever I needed her support. I must acknowledge with tremendous and deep thanks Irakli Kakabadze. Through his patience, support, and unwavering belief in me, I’ve been able to complete this long journey. From my very first and last day in Ithaca, Irakli did everything to help me persevere throughout this project. If not for Irakli’s encouragement, the idea of embarking on a doctoral study at this particular stage in my life would have been inconceivable. My five-year-old son, Andro Kakabadze, deserves special mention. Being just a year older than this dissertation, it is Andro who has patiently shared with this manuscript his mother’s attention. Aspiration for a better future for Andro gave me strength and inspiration to complete this dissertation. Watching the joy with which he vi has been discovering the workings of this universe made the process of dissertation- writing endurable. Last, but certainly not least, no words are adequate to express the gratitude I hold for my parents, Nana Gvatua and Valery Dolidze. Having suffered through the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic calamity that ensued, they nevertheless made every effort to make sure that I obtained access to quality education. The generosity, dedication, and warmth of my parents brightens up my dark childhood memories of lawlessness, violence, poverty, and destitution in the 1990s in Tbilisi, Georgia. Had my father been alive, he would be happy to see that some of his efforts have come to fruition. I am immensely grateful for everything my parents have given me, and it is to them that this dissertation is dedicated. vii Table of Contents BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. v LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... xii Chapter I: IntroDuction ............................................................................................ 1 1. Definitions ............................................................................................................... 3 2. MethoDoLogy ............................................................................................................ 8 3. Contribution to SchoLarship .................................................................................... 10 4. RoaDmap ................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter II: TheoreticaL Framework ........................................................................ 14 1. International Relations Scholarship ........................................................................ 15 2. Comparative Law Approach .................................................................................... 29 A. Legal Transplants ...................................................................................................... 32 B. Imposition ................................................................................................................. 36 C. Translation and Transposition .................................................................................