UC Irvine

This symposium essay discusses “transnational judicial governance” — that is, the regulation of transnational activity by domestic courts. Specifically, the essay makes three points. First, transnational judicial governance is an important form of global governance that interacts with, but is distinct from, other forms of global governance such as international institutions, transgovernmental networks, and private governance. Second, there is evidence suggesting that the influence of U.S. courts in transnational judicial governance may be declining as the transnational litigation system becomes increasingly multipolar. Third, transnational judicial governance seems to be a normatively mixed bag — but, for better or worse, it is likely that domestic courts will continue to play an important role in global governance.