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9 J. Int'l Disp. Settlement 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/jloildte9 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 2018, 9, 1-27 doi: 10.1093/jnlids/idx021 Article Shakespearean Legal Thought in International Dispute Settlement Thomas Schultz* and Franqois Ost** ABSTRACT In this article, the authors examine the contributions of Shakespearean legal thought to our understanding of core aspects of international dispute settlement. These aspects include: the sweeping role of masks in law and in the resolution of disputes; the con- struction and deconstruction of authority; the purpose of law in arousing desire and thus action; the limits in recognizing informal international law as law; the benefits of exaggeration; the problematic ambition of adjudicators; the key role of passion, against rationality, in understanding and dealing with international disputes; the decision- making resources to be found in logics of life; exercising measure in the enforcement and reach of law; remembering that law deals with human beings in our quest for law's purity and systematic organization; resisting single-mindedness; the relevance of a dia- lectic form of proportionality; and the inescapable need to embrace uncertainty. The authors also discuss the general relevance of law and literature, and law and the- atre, for all manner of legal professionals and review Shakespeare's own legal back- ground and thus his a priori ability to deal with legal matters. INTRODUCTION Thinking outside the box may be a voguish credo, but we lawyers, academic or not, have a tendency to embrace it more often as a figure of speech than as an actual prin- ciple of action. Interdisciplinary thinking may be a constant mantra, but less often is it clear what that really means. And its actual practice is yet rarer. So 'Shakespeare and International Dispute Settlement' may appear to be quite a bit outside the box, to the point that the box of international dispute settlement seems forgotten entirely. The late International Court of Justice judge Gerald Fitzmaurice would probably be all too happy to concur: 'the real fault of the lawyers', he opined, 'probably is that they have not, as lawyers, been single-minded enough, and have not resisted the temptation to stray into other fields'.I Lawyers, he thought, should really deal with just law. * King's College London, Dickson Poon School of Law; Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Department of International Law. Email: Thomas.Schultz@kcl.ac.uk, Thomas.Schultz@graduateinstitute.ch ** Saint-Louis University, Brussels, Faculty of Law. 1 Gerald Fitzmaurice, 'The United Nations and the Rule of Law' (1953) 38 Trans Grotius Soc 135, 142. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com . 1

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