The integrity branch - fourth branch of government (*** Authors are: Dr Doron Goldbarsht and Dr Hannah Harris, from Macquarie Law School, but provisionally registered under S Tomic name until authors' ECPR registration emails are sorted****

With the rise of globalisation, states increasingly find it necessary to rely on transnational non-binding regulations to deal with matters that were previously domestic in nature. While intergovernmentalism can enable positive regulatory outcomes by providing collaborative solutions to global challenges, states often have no alternative but to comply. In certain circumstances, the ‘voluntary’ nature of intergovernmental regulation is, in reality, mandatory. While political scientists observed its emergence in the 1970s, today intergovernmentalism is rapidly becoming the most widespread and effective mode of international governance. Compliance with these non-binding norms allows states to fully enjoy the advantages of globalisation and to avoid the race to the (regulatory) bottom. With regard to investments, environmental issues, labour and banking, states comply with non-binding regulations in order to avoid the negative economic and political side-effects that come with non- compliance. Anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, food safety, technical and organisational standards, environmental reporting, and international financial reporting standards are all examples of fields that are regulated, to some extent, by intergovernmental organisations. The organisations that oportes in the said fields are, theoretically, capable of setting only soft-law standards and recommendations. However, in reality, they often leaves no practical choice for states but to conform with the standards or risk their reputation under pressures that are unlikely to be indefinitely withstood. This reality is problematic from the perspective of democratic accountability, the legitimacy of domestic legislative processes, and respect for the fundamental international law principle of state sovereignty. It is also emblematic of an emerging trend towards increasingly transnational regulation and governance. Therefore, it is essential that democratic jurisdictions strengthen their separation of powers framework and defends democratic governance. In this presentation, we propose that the formal introduction of a fourth arm of government in the form of an integrity branch could facilitate this objective, strengthen the doctrine of separation of powers, and bolster states’ engagement with transnational governance and regulation. There is an urgent need for action on this issue as the shift to transnational governance, along with the increasing power of intergovernmental organisations, is a rapidly accelerating trend in international relations and a key feature of the global regulatory regime today.