This research adopts a novel concept – social ecology – to study the relationships among international courts and tribunals (ICTs). Social ecology refers to a social environment that is consisted of a set of actors who share a common pool of resources and interact with each other. Drawing on this concept, this research understands ICTs as actors who employ strategic measures to compete for resources in the international judicial community. Accordingly, it asks three research questions: first, what are the conditions for inter-court competition to take place; second, how have ICTs engaged in competition, both inside and outside the courtroom; and third, to what extent have the dynamics of inter-court competition influenced the judicial and legal orders of the international community. While inter-court competition may have specific, and thus varying, conditions depending on the circumstances, these conditions are invariably rooted in the fundamental features of the international legal structure. The fact that international law is a decentralised system, where actors struggle to gain dominance and cultivate recognition by their respective audiences, is a driving force for competition. Therefore, the central argument of this research is that competition is an indispensable part of the relationships between ICTs. It also illustrates the power dynamics of the international judicial community, and more specifically, the fact that inter-court competition is essentially a ‘wrestling match’ between institutions vying for power, that gives rise to uneven distribution of resources and ultimately leads to a social hierarchy within the international judicial community.
