Mediatisation in international law: the rise of the individual

Abstract

The status of the individual under international law, specifically referring to a singular human being, has been as extensively debated as it has been controversially hypothesized, concluded, and contested. Indeed, the significance of this issue is evidenced by the fervent debates surrounding it—solutions diverge as widely as the justifications for them, with their roots embedded in philosophy and history, natural law and positive law, alongside political considerations. The result is a domain wherein virtually any resolution to the question can be found, leaving even the most fundamental definitions—such as subjectivity, mediatisation, or human rights—subject to disagreement. It is precisely in this context that this master’s thesis seeks to identify specific intersections with a singular aim: to articulate mediatisation in such a way that it can be employed as an abstract concept to address contemporary phenomena in the realm of international law. This thesis adopts the term mediatisation to describe the structural and procedural requirement that individuals, despite holding substantive rights under international law, must channel those rights through a state or another intermediary to access international legal fora or remedies. The scholarly approach undertaken here is resolutely stringent: it endeavors to define the most significant notions that have been thoroughly explored by other academics, uncovering their abstract legal (positive as well as natural) foundations and synthesizing them to construct a current, operational concept of mediatisation. In doing so, it must be emphasized that, for mediatisation to function as a distinct qualification, it must be carefully distinguished from other ongoing legal developments. Once this concept is formulated, the next logically requisite step is to apply it to the present-day legal landscape.