For more than 200 years constitutional law has been confined to states. The European integration exemplifies that this need not be the case. Within the process of integration, conflicts are regulated and interests are bundled supranationally, they are carried towards the greater common welfare of Europe by means of the law and common institutions. Walter Hallstein, the first President of the European Commission, first described the European Community as a “Community based on the rule of law”: It is a community constructed by the law, acting in the modes of the law and guided by the idea of law.

The European Court of Justice accurately refers to the European treaties as “a constitutional charter of a Community based on the rule of law”. The European Union as a law-based community temporarily found its completion and climax when the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was signed in autumn of 2004. This successful concept of a law-based community needs not be limited to Europe. Already Hallstein thought ahead. The idea traces back to Kant who believed the rule of law to be the basis of peace between all peoples and states.

At present, elements of a global, law-based community are rather rudimentary. The Charter of the United Nations and other instruments of public international law do of course regulate the responsibility of states, based on common rules and procedures. The Statute of the International Criminal Court for the first time goes further by stipulating individual responsibility for the sake of the protection of human rights. Yet this idea of a multilateral agreement stipulating responsibilities of the individual is in contrast with new tendencies towards unilateralism (e.g. Kyoto/ ICC) and the elusion and change of international commitments and responsibilities (e.g. Kosovo/ Iraq). These developments show that law, in the face of power, is exposed to dangers before even having reached predominance globally.

It is for these reasons that the possibility and necessity of a constitutionalisation on the global level is an object of deliberation and research. It will need to be examined whether and in what way the rules of the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the International Criminal Court and other organisations can be used as a basis when developing global constitutional law. Other questions of analysis will be the transferability of concepts and structures of European integration to the international level and the question whether the term “constitution” is at all applicable to supranational and international political systems. What are the similarities and fundamental differences between the European and the international legal community? How can these systems be conciliated with traditional concepts of constitution, taking into regard different legal and cultural traditions?

The Berlin Research Training Group will deal with these questions within the above-mentioned components, each approaching the general subject from a different angle: the constitutional theory approach, historic and comparative principles, European experiences and global perspectives. The components merely indicate the different fields of work. The differentiation will be relevant for the selection of fellows, the programme for visiting fellows and for the division of work among the patrons. A strict separation is designed neither substantially nor organisationally. On the contrary, the overlaps are to create synergy effects. The course programme is therefore the same for all the members of the research training group.

Each component is overseen by four specialists in the field, selected in accordance with the relevance of their research for the research objectives of the group. They come from various carrier stages, ranging from the youngest generation of students to doctoral researchers and postdocs.

Amongst the patrons and associated fellows the Berlin Research Training Group ranges from Associated Professors and “younger” professors, who are largely responsible for organisational and coordination aspects, to experienced professors, who share their vast knowledge and experience with the fellows. In some cases, they remain with the group, actively supporting and guiding the young scholars even as emeriti. In this way generations can learn from each other, years of experience meet youthful creativity.