Published by NTNU Programme for Applied Ethics via the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Library (CrossRef member)

SHERPA classified RoMEO green journal

Indexed in DOAJ, Web of Science, 

EbscoHost, Philosopher's Index and Scopus

Languages: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English

ISI/JCR short title: Etikk Praksis
English short title: Nord J Appl Ethics
ISSN 1890-3991, e-ISSN 1890-4009

Latest Issue Online

Call for submissions 

Nr 2/2020 Special Issue

Deadline for submission: May 5, 2020

The Justice of Others: Arbitrary Law-making in Contemporary Migration Policy

Does regulation of migration constitute a blunt case of arbitrary law-making? This is the pressing issue that this special issue seeks to engage with by exploring international migration from the point of view of arbitrary power. When does legitimate state discretion slides into an exercise of arbitrary power? Deciding who may enjoy the right to abode, to stay, to asylum, to citizenship is a key power of the state: A regal prerogative, an act of sovereignty, limited only by deliberately accepted commitments, such as the respect for human rights. This makes migration policy an exceptionally interesting ground to test the limits of discretion and the forms of arbitrariness. Power can be understood to be of a discretional nature if it acts freely within the boundaries defined by law, whereas arbitrary qualifies discretional power exceeding the limits of law. Further enquiry is needed if we want to know how this hitherto peripheral and surrogated dimension of legal decision-making stretches the leeway of legal officials to the very margin of legality, disclosing the social tension and the power struggle between their agency and the structures that condition and enable it. As arbitrariness becomes a pressing concern for lawyers, practicians and scholars attempting to grasp the discretionary powers of judicial and administrative authorities, its legal construction, social impact and political consequences must be explored in order to appreciate how central it has become. But arbitrary law-making is yet to garner the attention it deserves. It is not only under-theorized, but also lacks adequate empirical analysis. As of today, there is little or no conversation about arbitrary law-making across disciplines involved with migration, a policy area marked by the recurrent use of discretionary practices in law and practices often conceived to be arbitrary. The special issue aims to bring together practical philosophy, legal theory and social theory in conversation with migration law about the topic of arbitrary law-making in contemporary migration policy.