Transnational Law and the EU: Reflections from WISH in China

• Author: Francis Snyder,Lu Yi
• Published date: 01 November 2013
• Date: 01 November 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/eulj.12072

Transnational Law and the EU:

Reflections from WISH in China

Francis Snyder* and Lu Yi**

In his famous 1956 Storrs lectures at Yale Law School, Philip Jessup defined ‘trans-

national law’ as including ‘all law which regulates actions or events that transcend

national frontiers.’ Since then, however, globalisation, European integration, global

legal pluralism, the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the rise of

China and the other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have

profoundly altered the legal landscape. During the past decades, transnational law has

proliferated, to the extent that national legal systems have been internationalised, in

terms of sources and content of norms and of the craft knowledge of teachers,

researchers and legal professionals. Many new types of norms, legally binding or not,

originating from a multiplicity of sites of governance, now cut across national

boundaries. In many respects, it is easier to identify the numerous varieties of trans-

national law than it is to pinpoint laws and other norms, which remain purely

national or regional.

What is the future of transnational law? What does ‘transnational law’ mean in an

age marked by global legal pluralism and the emergence of new sites of governance in

virtually all domains of life? Are ‘public international law’ and ‘private international

law’ still ‘standard categories?’ Is all law today ‘transnational?’ Is transnational law a

legal system? How is transnational law connected to specific political systems or

territories? How is it relevant to citizens, governments and organisations? How does it

relate to regional, national and local cultures and traditions? Is transnational law

limited to major players on the international stage, such as the EU, the United States

and China? Does it reflect the rise of the BRICS? What does ‘transnational law’ have

to do with concerns such as gender, human rights, food safety, social solidarity ethics,

education, international labour relations, the emergence of regional or global

networks, the current environmental crisis or global governance? How have the BRICS

influenced these concerns and brought new issues of and challenges to transnational

law?

The 9th International Workshop for Young Scholars (WISH)/9ème Rencontre

international des jeunes chercheurs (RIJC) debated these questions. Its theme was ‘The

Future of Transnational Law: The EU, USA, China and the BRICS.’ The 9th WISH

was held at Peking University School of Transnational Law (STL), Shenzhen Graduate

* C.V. Starr Professor of Law, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam and Co-Director, Centre for Research

on Transnational Law, Peking University School of Transnational Law, Shenzhen Graduate School,

Shenzhen, China; Visiting Professor, London School of Economics. Founder and Editor-in-Chief,

European Law Journal.

** Assistant Director, Centre for Research on Transnational Law, Peking University School of Trans-

national Law, Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China.

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European Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 6, November 2013, pp. 705–710.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA