Human Rights

In this post Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann issues a rejoinder to Robert Howse's comments [above] on Prof. Petersmann's article. "All academics learn from discussion and criticism of their published views. Hence, I congratulated the EJIL editors, Alston in 2002 and Weiler in 2008, when they invited a response to my articles in EJIL. Following the insulting EJIL comments by Alston in 2002, this is the second time in my 37 years of academic teaching that a ‘commentator' has imputed to me intoxicating views which I never expressed. Six years after the confabulations by Alston and Howse, (( Petersmann, ‘Taking Human Dignity, Poverty and Empowerment of Individuals More Seriously: Rejoinder to Alston', 13 EJIL (2002) 845.)) Howse remains committed to misrepresenting rather than discussing my legal arguments. Clarifying, in fewer than 2,500 words, the reasons for this ‘Alice in Wonderland non-discussion' would have been more enlightening if my Australian and Canadian commentators had respected correct academic citation before publicly putting forth their aggressive legal phantasms. Here I want to suggest ways in which such an exchange may be more constructive.