"Partly Laws Common to All Mankind"

Should judges in United States courts be permitted to cite foreign laws in their rulings? In this book, Jeremy Waldron explores jurisprudential ideas that could underlie the Supreme Court's occasional recourse to foreign law, especially in constitutional cases, and argues that every society is governed partly by its own laws and partly by laws common to all mankind. But he takes the unique step of arguing that this common law is not natural law but a grounded consensus among all nations. He puts forward an interpretation of jurisprudence that will become increasingly important as the world becomes more globalized.