ISMAIL LAGARDIEN: Judicialising international politics is a threat to state sovereignty
A French court ordered Malaysia to award a Filipino family $14.9bn, who now wants Malaysian assets to be seized around the world
The judicialisation of domestic politics has gained prominence since Bush versus Gore, when the US Supreme Court handed George W Bush the presidency of the country in 2000. South Africans are all too familiar with this habit of turning what should be ordinary political arguments that are part of the democratic process into drawn-out legal contestations.
However, when the judicialisation of politics bleeds into the international system it can threaten state sovereignty. For example, in the greater South China Sea the global superpower rivalry between the US and China overshadows numerous smaller, regional tensions. Most people would be aware of the claims and counterclaims between mainland China and Taiwan, but the South Korea-Japan dispute over a rocky outcrop called Liancourt Rocks is virtually unknown west of the region. ..
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