The Role of Regional Courts in International Dispute Settlement: Between Cooperation and Fragmentation

Abstract

The growth of the regional courts has transformed the nature of the settlement of international disputes, which leaves the question whether they are associated to the international courts like the International Court of Justice and specialized courts. Although the regional courts are making it easier to access justice and make rulings relative to the situation on the ground, their spread may lead to creation of piecemeal interpretations of the laws. The current literature is not systematic and with statistically based evidence on the balance of cooperation and fragmentation of this emerging system. In this paper, we wish to discuss the purpose of regional courts in international dispute settlement, and more precisely, whether they lead to legal cooperation between jurisdictions or enhance systemic fragmentation. It assumes that the international adjudicatory coherence is complementary and challenging at the same time by the regional courts. The study uses a mixed-methods research design since it combines both a qualitative legal study and quantitative statistical methods. An astute collection of local judicial rulings (n = 500 cases) will be gathered in Europe, Africa, and Latin America between 1990 and 2022. Descriptive statistics, network analysis and regression models are used in order to find patterns of convergence or divergence with international precedents. Citation-tracking and text-similarity measures are also used to determine the degree of cross-referencing between local and international courts. The evidence indicates that about 65 percent of court decisions in the area are consistent with the international jurisprudence referring to the cooperation with the legal integration, 20 percent is partially distorted, and 15 percent completely fractured. The regression findings also reveal that regional membership in international organizations, and the previous judicial cooperation are the strongest variables influencing alignment.