This paper offers a critical introduction to the idea of the common heritage of Humankind (CHM) and argues that political theorists (and others interested in common global governance and international justice) need to treat CHH as an incidence of institutional moral reasoning (rather than just a moral claim or a legal claim). This will entail an brief introduction to the practical approach, or practise-turn in contemporary liberal political theory. We go on to offer a refinement of the idea of institutional moral reasoning by looking at the interstitial quality of institutional moral principles. Finally, in order to demonstrate the critical purchase of these moves, I explore the argument that Allen Buchanan (a key figure in the practice-turn) makes in respect of CHM and distributive justice outlining our critique and subsequent research agenda.
