The New Haven School Matters: An Inquiry into Insights of the Policy-oriented Jurisprudence for the Pedagogy of International Law in Iran
| Published date | 01 July 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/23220058231153589 |
| Author | Hadi Dadmehr |
| Date | 01 July 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The New Haven School Matters:
An Inquiry into Insights of the
Policy-oriented Jurisprudence
for the Pedagogy of International
Law in Iran
Hadi Dadmehr1
Abstract
While the scope of the theories of international law has expanded over the past decades, the formalist
rule-oriented approaches are still dominant scholarly traditions in Iranian legal studies. Describing the
internal structure of the New Haven School of international law, the author suggests that the Iranian
community of international law may embrace the methodological frame of policy-oriented jurisprudence
in doctrinal legal research. It is an irrefutable fact that the rule-oriented schools (including positivism
and natural law) could provide compelling insights into some features of international law; however,
a profound understanding of the dynamic and changing process of international lawmaking requires
moving beyond a set of supposedly fair and neutral legal rules. The policy-oriented perspective has
provided a variety of intellectual tools and concepts (including the elements of the world constitutive
process: participants, perspectives, arenas of decisions, bases of power, strategies and outcomes) to
identify and influence the comprehensive process of authoritative decisions.
A Common Misperception About the New Haven School
International law has always been subject to harsh criticism for not providing an accurate picture of inter-
national relations. The outbreak of the Second World War heightened serious doubts about the effectiveness
of international law. Political realism, which became the dominant paradigm in the post-war years, regarded
international law as an oxymoron.2 The realists’ emphasis on anarchy and power in international politics led
them to disregard the effectiveness of international law and institutional structures. Ignoring the interna-
tional law’s primary role in the international arena, they claimed that law could not constrain states’
behaviour when states have a national interest in non-compliance with international legal rules.
1 Public International Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Stephen Krasner, Realist Views of International Law, 96 Am. Soc’y Int’l l. Proc. 265 (2002).
Article
Asian Journal of Legal Education
10(2) 152–166, 2023
© 2023 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
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DOI: 10.1177/23220058231153589
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Corresponding author:
Hadi Dadmehr, Public International Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: h_dadmehr@sbu.ac.ir
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