Episode 17: What’s wrong with the international law on jurisdiction?

What conduct occurring where are states allowed to regulate? The
international law on jurisdiction provides part of the answer.
But international lawyers use different images when
conceptualising the geographical reach of states' jurisdiction to
prescribe their laws. In this podcast, the two contenders in a
debate in issue 33(2) of the European Journal of
International Law engage with each other’s images and their
ensuing conclusions as to the international law of
jurisdiction. Nico Krisch posits that the
traditional image is inappropriate, that in practice jurisdiction
- at least when it relates to global markets - has come "unbound"
and that this unbound jurisdiction has allowed economically
powerful states to exercise global governance in a hierarchical
fashion, triggering fresh demands for public
accountability. Roger O’Keefe replies that this
supposedly traditional image was never his understanding, argues
that the current law of jurisdiction is fit for purpose and
cautions against blaming this law for the perpetuation of the
world’s economic inequalities. EJIL Editor in Chief Sarah
Nouwen hosts the debate.