Home

ESIL conferences are organised annually since the last general meeting at Vienna. The next ESIL annual conference on ‘The Judicialization of International Law – A mixed blessing?’ will be held on 10-12 September 2015 at the University of Oslo. The Call for Agora Proposals and Papers and Call for Posters are open until 31 January 2015.

Oskar Kokoschka, Die Wiener Staatsoper, 1956. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 7: International law and History: The Return of the Past?

International law has developed a distinctively historical and historiographic turn in the last 15 years, rediscovering a historical approach to the study of international law and international lawyers which had largely faded from view since 1945. In part it has been revitalized by a renewed preoccupation with understanding the political and normative foundations of international law, its relationship with empire and colonialism, and as part of the search for clues about the origins of the present. But it has also been revitalized by the resurgence of intellectual history, postcolonial history and international history, which are reinvigorating the study of ‘classical’ figures in international political and legal thought, and trying to understand the origins of the political, social and economic foundations of the contemporary international legal order. Along with groundbreaking work in the history of international law in general, recent years have seen new studies in the history of the laws of war, renovations of the legal thought of classical figures such as Gentili and Vattel, and new histories of international institutions such as the League of Nations.

This agora will bring together intellectual historians, historians of law and historians of international thought to consider the ways in which new research into the history of international law is changing our understanding of past and present.

 

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Autumn-Tree-With-Fuchsias

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 6: International law and Feminism: Anything New Under the Sun?

In the 1990s an intense debate on feminism and international law started to permeate journals and learned societies. Core concepts of international law were critiqued and de-constructed from a feminist perspective. Most recently, the ILA re-established a committee on ‘Feminism and International Law’ in 2010 focusing on the economic empowerment of women and the possible contribution of international law. Other initiatives, like the journal ‘Feminist Legal Studies’, continue; others were recently revived, such as the ‘IntLawGrrls’ blog.

Feminist methodological approaches to international law include the detection of silences in the law and the question of how to respond to the many (cultural, linguistic, religious, ethnic, economic) differences among women. Feminist international lawyers have added to the understanding of international law in various ways, e.g. through a feminist perspective on international criminal law and on women in armed conflicts.

These issues will be discussed in this agora, including questions such as: What is the current status of the debate? Is there still momentum in international law and feminism? What are the fields where international law and feminism might best contribute to the development of international law?

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Stein-On-The-Danube-With-Terraced-Vineyards

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 5: International Law and Literature

Law and literature has become an established research interest and has found its way into a number of law school curricula. Obviously both academic fields are primarily about the interpretation of texts. But there are many other overlaps between the two fields, from lawyers turning novelists to novelists pushing legal change. However, international law seems to have been rather on the fringe of these developments. Even so, issues central to international law have been reflected in literature (e.g. terrorism, from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel ‘The Secret Agent’ to the 2006 book ‘Terrorist’ by John Updike). Though more rarely, international lawyers have even become protagonists in literature like Frederic Martens in Jan Kross’ 1984 novel ‘Professor Martens’ Departure’, depicting the 19th century international lawyer already torn between apology and utopia. Conversely, international lawyers have taken a closer look at literature and studied the reflection of international law in Shakespeare’s plays like Theodor Meron in his 1994 study on ‘Henry’s Wars and Shakespeare’s Laws’ followed by his 1998 book ‘Bloody Constraint: War and Chivalry in Shakespeare’.

Building on this interest of international lawyers in literature, this agora will address general issues: Is there anything that law and literature can learn from each other? Is there a deeper overlap in the methodology? How would a lawyer cope with the prevailing subjectivist approach to art? Can writers adapt to the stringent interpretative canons of (international) lawyers? To what extent should lawyers draw on the methodology developed in the context of literary studies, e.g. as regards text analysis or interpretation?

 

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Yellow-City

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 4: International Law and Economics 

‘Law and economics’ has become an established branch of interdisciplinary research. Many fields of the law have been analyzed from a ‘law and economics’ perspective (assuming rational behaviour and using economic tools) and also from a ‘behavioural law and economics’ perspective (a joint enterprise between economists and psychologists). However, international law appears to have been analyzed to a lesser extent although it is an especially interesting topic due to the missing centralized enforcement power. It thus appears worthwhile to investigate whether ‘(behavioural) law and economics’ approaches could be applied more widely to core issues of international law ranging from treaty negotiation to treaty compliance, the development of customary law, the design of international institutions, international dispute settlement, and so on.

This agora welcomes all contributions on international law using a (behavioural) economics approach, including empirical studies on international law.

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Richard Teschner, Kleine Stadt, 1903. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 3: Trade and Investment between International and European Law

Trade and investment are core issues at the crossroads of international and European law. The EU has gradually expanded its trade competences and succeeded into its member states’ position in global trade arrangements like the GATT and other WTO agreements. Most recently, the take-over of member state powers in the field of concluding investment treaties with third parties has led to contested new external powers of the EU. Trade and investment issues are meanwhile litigated before a multiplicity of fora, such as the WTO dispute settlement system, regional trade agreements, the Court of Justice of the EU, investment arbitration tribunals as well as national courts. Host states invoke EU law as a defence in investment cases and traders try to rely on international law before regional and national courts.

This agora will analyze the frictions and bridges between the global and the regional, between international and European law, in regulating common problems at different levels. It will also focus on the role of international law in the European legal order addressing trade and investment disputes and vice versa.

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Gustave Klimt, Bauerngarten mit Sonnenblumen 1906. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 2: National Law as a Generator of International Law 

 

 National law, both statutory and case-law, can influence international law in many ways. National law may serve as a template for treaties or lead to the development of customary law and, most importantly, national law may evidence general principles of law. Classic examples are the impact of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention or the Truman Proclamation’s influence on the customary international law of the continental shelf. A particularly fascinating role is played by domestic courts; their jurisprudence may take on a special law-making role as relevant state practice and, often at the same time, as opinio iuris evident in many immunity and extraterritorial jurisdiction cases.

This agora will address the various ways that national law and jurisprudence influence international law. What is the particular role of domestic courts? Does this role depend on national traditions? Is it shaped by transnational judicial dialogue or are courts in different states acting as isolated agents? How have international courts incorporated national law or national law concepts in their reasoning? How do international courts and tribunals ‘select’ the domestic case law on a particular matter?

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Gustav Klimt, Allee im Park vor Schloß Kammer 1912. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

The call for  papers or posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 includes:

Agora 1: International Law as a Generator of National Law 

International law has greatly expanded. Today, almost all spheres of life regulated by law  are to some extent pre-determined by international law. Often international law even inspires national legislation that would otherwise possibly not exist at all. In some areas international law may substitute for domestic law. Global Law, Global Governance,  Global Administrative Law and International Public Authority discourses debate whether international law or some modification of international law is likely to make domestic law superfluous in some areas or whether it may rather generate more domestic law. This agora is intended to focus on the role of international law in the domestic sphere. What are the quantitative and qualitative features of the influence of international law at the national level? Are the traditional concepts of incorporation/application still adequate? Are states still able to mediate and control the impact of international law? Is domestic social change through international legislation possible? Is it desirable?

The deadline for proposals for papers or posters is 15 January 2014.

Gustav Klimt, Kuss, 1907/1908 Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

The call for papers and posters for the ESIL Vienna Conference on 4-6 September 2014 has been published. The programme is magnificent and you can send proposals for papers or posters until 15 January 2014.

“INTERNATIONAL LAW AND …”
Boundaries of International Law and Bridges to Other Fields and Disciplines

International law has long been influenced by other fields of law and other disciplines and this conference will explore these influences and the way that they are intertwined. International law may regulate, mostly through treaties, other fields of law such as commercial, employment, family or environmental law; the use of international law is very different in each of these fields and international lawyers may be criminal lawyers, investment arbitrators or administrative law specialists while still considering themselves international lawyers. At the same time, international law needs to be understood in a broader context. The fluctuating content of international law – as a result of its decentralized norm-making process – and the various compliance and enforcement structures – due to the lack or weakness of centralized policing institutions – often require meta-legal reasoning when it comes to explaining the normative quality of international law and to understanding what the law is and why it should be followed. These trends have increased recently and threatened international law with fragmentation through over-specialization. In order to see the whole picture, international lawyers need to understand how international law is distinguished from and linked to other fields and disciplines.
The 2014 ESIL conference in Vienna will explore these interconnections and will also look at whether the boundaries of international law have been crossed, and in what ways. The title ‘International Law and …’ indicates that the focus is both on the interplay between international law and other fields of law and between international law and other disciplines.

The papers and posters will discuss international law and history, feminism, literature, films, sports, technology, et cetera.

A %d blogueros les gusta esto: