Volume 17, Issue 4

This paper contributes to the ongoing construction of non-human rights. I will argue that international law should move towards the recognition of animals and nature as subjects of rights (positive and negative). I will propose to combine two paths that show ways out of the anthropocentrism of international human rights law. The first is the capabilities approach of Martha Nussbaum that, while remaining indebted to Rawlsian liberalism, can provide a framework for the protection of non-humans in human rights practice through an understanding of rights as basic capabilities to flourish. The second path is the Earth Constitutionalism and jurisprudence in Latin America. Heavily influenced by indigenous legal philosophies, Latin American jurisprudence highlights ways in which we could move beyond the thin social goods of liberalism and promote human rights as a harmonizer force that protects nature as having worth by itself. These approaches combined pave the way for a postliberal approach to rights in which we move from the rationality-autonomy-freedom justification of rights towards a capabilities-harmony-sustainability approach to rights.

In this article, we explore seven ways in which Ghana absorbs principles of International Law into her bosom. The safest mechanism Ghana has utilised over the years for this purpose has been the domestic ratification of international conventions through the mechanism of a law passed by her Parliament. Another mechanism is the ratification of such conventions by the passage of a Resolution by her Parliament. Furthermore, existing principles of Ghanaian law may coincide with principles of International Law. Again, principles of Customary International Law are considered a part of the Common Law of Ghana. There are also instances where Domestic Law incorporates International Law by reference. A sixth mechanism is where there is a lacuna in Ghanaian law regarding a particular issue and government officials and judges resort to principles of International Law to fill that void. Finally, International Law may find expression in domestic Ghanaian law where judges, in the process of elaborating on domestic legal principles, call in the principles of International Law.

The recent corruption scandal in Brussels has put the spotlight back on integrity measures for public officials. The obligation of public officials to publicly disclose their finances and interests is one important cornerstone in this regard. This disclosure obligation exists in most European Union Member States and also on the level of the European Union itself. A new decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union of August 2022 props up financial disclosure with legal certainty. At the same time, it draws some technical limits on the outer borders of particularly far-reaching disclosure systems. This case note explores answers to the following three questions: What are the ramifications of this decision? Will the decision affect the effectiveness of financial disclosure? What reform steps will countries have to put in place to comply with this decision?