Parliaments stymied, says top lawyer

GLOBALISATION is curbing the powers of national parliaments to enact legislation, a leading international lawyer claimed yesterday.

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, President of the Swiss Arbitration Association, says globalisation had caused the disempowerment of countries and weakened the fundamental functions that State law traditionally fulfilled.

He was speaking at annual meeting of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), which was held in Dublin.

“Globalisation has caused the disempowerment of States, which are limited by their geographic territory. Such disempowerment has weakened the fundamental functions that state law traditionally fulfils, among which, is the operation of an adequate dispute resolution system.”