A PDF of this paper is available at this link.

Dustin A. Lewis, International Law and State Allegations of Double Standards: A Conceptual Analysis, HLS PILAC, April 2025

In a new legal-concept paper for HLS PILAC, Dustin A. Lewis examines how States have made allegations of double standards in certain multilateral settings and explores a range of legal and institutional implications of such claims.

The analysis draws on over 900 statements by U.N. Member and Observer States delivered in the General Assembly from 2000 through late 2024 expressly or impliedly invoking double standards — statements compiled by a team of HLS PILAC research assistants. The paper examines the frequency, breadth, and rhetorical diversity of these contentions.

Rather than seeking to determine the truth or motive behind any specific claim, the paper sets out elements of an analytical framework to help assess these invocations.

In attempting to help clarify certain aspects of the content, structure, and function of State double-standards claims, the study treats these allegations as forms of normative contestation — expressive acts that may seek to challenge how international legal norms and institutional mandates are developed, interpreted, or enforced. It identifies rhetorical approaches, categories, associated concepts, and countervailing notions.

The paper also introduces two analytical models to help guide assessment: one classifying the type of legal engagement and another outlining the area of legal impact.

The author urges States and other stakeholders to avoid categorical assumptions of bad faith in relation to all double-standards allegations. Instead, he proposes a set of orienting questions to assist in evaluating such assertions.

Ultimately, the study aims to offer elements of an evidence-based analytical foundation for more intentional and attuned multilateral deliberation and engagement in this area.

Research Assistants

Syed Qasim Abbas, Edith Amoafoa-Smart, Camila Castellanos, Liyu Feng, Ravi Prakash Vyas, Sima Sweidat, and Dominique Virgil