Human rights and international economic law in the 21st century - The need to clarify their interrelationships

This article discusses the legal consequences of the 'human rights revolution' for public international law in general and WTO law in particular. The universal recognition of human rights calls for the constitutionalization of international law and foreign policies based on human rights and principles of rule of law, limitation and separation of government powers, social justice, 'democratic peace', and national as well as international constitutionalism. The eight core principles of constitutionalism must be applied in a mutually complementary manner at local, national, and international levels wherever power risks being abused. Constitutionalism is described as a bottom-up struggle for the protection of human rights and human dignity in the Kantian sense of maximum equal liberty for the personal development of every individual. The WTO guarantees of freedom, non-discrimination, rule of law, compulsory adjudication of international disputes, and of a mutually beneficial division of labor are shown to be compatible with the six basic functions of human rights law. The emerging 'right to democracy' and the increasing focus on 'positive integration law' in WTO negotiations call for democratic reforms of WTO law and of its 'constitutional infrastructure' for the benefit of the citizens. UN human rights law must overcome its long-standing neglect of economic liberties, property rights and of competition law as a necessary complement of human rights. The universalization of human rights and of WTO law offer mutually beneficial synergies that require increased cooperation between human rights activists, the WTO, and the world trade community for the benefit of the citizens and their human rights.