BRICS, a Multi-Centre “Legal Network”?

Lucia Scaffardi

Law Department, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/blr.2014.52013                

Abstract

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of the BRICS group and its transformation into BRICs. From the first Summit, whose final declarations were mainly centered on economic, financial and commercial themes, the group attention has broadened its horizons, as to encompass health, agriculture, environment, international relations. The BRICS working method seems to suggest a new pattern of inter-state relations, based on peer-to-peer cooperation, experiences sharing and “soft” policy transfer. Given the difficult classification of this new “entity”, the author suggests considering it more as a network, where there is not a singular hegemony power, but where the relevance of the different countries varies according to the issue discussed in the Summit.

Keywords

BRICs, BRICS, Legal Network, Comparative Public Law, Constitutional Borrowing, Policy Transfer

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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