Pablo Zapatero (Carlos III University) has posted Self-reference in International Law (EUNOMÍA. Revista en Cultura de la Legalidad, issue 29, 2025) obn SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Self-reference pervades international law. Treaty-based regimes –the most robust forms of international authority– typically coexist, exhibiting patterns of legal pluralism. As self-referential constructs, special regimes operate as open subsystems of international law that manage the incorporation of other international rules and decisions. Their relative autonomy embodies the logic of intergovernmental functionalism. In the absence of general organs or procedures for their integration, this situation enables equally valid –yet potentially divergent– international legal perspectives. Despite harmonizing interpretations (i.e., so-called systemic integration) by treaty bodies, achieving a measure of consistency, or effectively balancing global public goods and values, remains a significant collective challenge. This is further illustrated by regulatory competition and arbitrage arising from treaty forms, underscoring the difficulties that the absence of general procedural integration poses for the modern rule of law.