From ‘tension’ to ‘justice à venir’ Rearticulating the Relationship between International Human Rights Law and International Trade Law towards More Just Outcomes

Abstract

This article proposes that the characterisation of the relationship between international trade law and international human rights law as one of tension or incoherence limits the conceptualisation of justice permissible within international trade law, locates international human rights law as trade law’s ‘other’ and masks a deeper problematique within both bodies of international law. Drawing from Derrida’s concept of ‘justice à venir’ to recognise the inherent ‘promise of justice’ quality of law, and from post-colonial and critical philosophical analyses of international law to identify some foundational conceptual and normative biases inherent to both bodies of law, this article proposes that greater attention to the tensions within international trade law may lead to an enhanced recognition and re-envisioning of the justice potential of international trade law.