This year’s ASIL Annual Meeting will take place from March 30 to April 2, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The conference theme will focus on ‘Charting New Frontiers in International Law’, and evaluate the shifts that are creating new frontiers in the physical and conceptual structure of our international order.
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International criminal tribunals are in trouble. Lines are blurring between international legal systems. It's increasingly difficult to balance the benefits of open trade with the negative impact of its volatility. Rhetoric around border and migration control is vociferous. At the American Society of International Law's annual meeting (30 March – 2 April 2016), academics and practitioners will address the theme 'Charting New Frontiers in International Law'.
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The 109th ASIL Annual Meeting is taking place from 8-11 April 2015, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC. The ASIL Annual meeting is one of the most important events on the international law community calendar, and 2015 proves to be no exception.
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In early April, the American Society of International Law and the International Law Association held a joint conference around the theme “The Effectiveness of International Law.” We may not have been able to do everything on our wishlist, but there are plenty of round-ups to catch up on all the news and events: ASIL Cables posted throughout the conference; the International Law Prof Blog wrote a piece on three female judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), who were honored at the conference; IntLawGrrls posted a group photo of all members attending this year’s conference; and DipLawMatic Dialogues blogged from a librarians perspective on the proceedings of ILA-ASIL, including a piece on the Clive Parry Consolidated Treaty Series.
We were delighted to see so many friendly faces. Below is a slideshow featuring some of the authors, editors, and contributors who stopped by to say hello during the week.
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Sean Murphy
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Co-author of Litigating War
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Cesare Romano
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Editor of the Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication
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Ruti Teitel
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Author of Globalizing Transitional Justice
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Anne Peters
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Co-Editor of the Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law
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Ganesh Sitaraman
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Author of The Counterinsurgent's Constitution
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Ben Saul
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Co-author of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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Salvatore Zappala
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Editor of Journal of International Criminal Justice
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Mike Newton
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Author of Proportionality in International Law
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David Caron
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Co-author of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 2nd edition with OUP's very own Merel Alstein
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Jean d'Aspremont
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Author of Formalism and the Sources of International Law
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Pieter Jan Kuijper
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Co-author of the Law of EU External Relations
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Duncan Hollis
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Author of the Oxford Guide to Treaties
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Won Kidane
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Co-author of Litigating War: Mass Civil Injury and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission
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Guy S. Goodwin Gill
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Founding editor of International Journal of Refugee Law, celebrates 25 years since the journal first launched
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Martins Paparinskis
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Author of the International Minimum Standard and Fair and Equitable Treatment, stops by the booth between his talks
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Dieter Fleck
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Editor of the Handbook of International Humanitarian Law 3rd edition
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Yuval Shany
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Author of Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts
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Antonios Tzanakopoulos
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Author of Disobeying the Security Council: Countermeasures against Wrongful Sanctions, and OUP's very own John Louth
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Jane McAdam
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Author of Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law as well as editor of International Journal of Refugee Law
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Kai Ambos
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Author of Treatise on International Criminal Law volumes I and II
Oxford University Press is a leading publisher in international law, including the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, latest titles from thought leaders in the field, and a wide range of law journals and online products. We publish original works across key areas of study, from humanitarian to international economic to environmental law, developing outstanding resources to support students, scholars, and practitioners worldwide. For the latest news, commentary, and insights follow the International Law team on Twitter @OUPIntLaw.
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Image credit: All photos courtesy of Oxford University Press staff./em>
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For the first time in its history, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) is partnering with the American Branch of the International Law Association (ILA) to combine each organization’s major conference into an extraordinary joint event. Oxford University Press is looking forward to exhibiting at the conference taking place in Washington on 7-12 April 2014. The conference theme is “The Effectiveness of International Law,” and no doubt there will be much to debate and discuss during the week. Organizers released a set of questions they hope will be addressed during the course of the conference. To kick off the debate we posed two of them to Ademola Abass, author of Complete International Law.
Are there greater challenges to effectiveness in some areas of international law practice than in others? If so, what are they, and how can they be addressed?
Keen followers of international affairs often wonder why, despite the prohibition on the use of force by the UN Charter, States still resort to this means of addressing international disputes. Explanations vary. Legal experts offer various technical explanations for this development. This includes that the rules governing the use of force are outdated and do not offer enough protection for States. Non-lawyers blame the ‘double-standard’ of international law which allows rich and powerful States to act with impunity while weak and poor States are held accountable for their conducts. Others blame the special status accorded to the five permanent members of the Security Council by the veto vote. Regardless of divergent viewpoints, all agree the prohibition of the use of force is less effective than other areas of international law. This is due principally to lack of compliance by some States, and lack of enforcement against rich and powerful States. It is also difficult for States not to defend themselves against threatening States until those have attacked them. The presence of nuclear weapons makes it difficult for most States to sit and wait for an attack before they respond. Overcoming these challenges requires making the Security Council work more evenly and responsibly; ensuring greater transparency and consistency in the administration of collective security by the United Nations. More importantly, it requires the interpretation of the law prohibiting the use of force in accordance with the reality of the twenty first century.
Do the challenges facing international law vary in different parts of the world, and, if so, how might those challenges be met?
It is often argued that international law began in the West. While one can contest whether it is possible (or purposeful) to seek locating the birthplace of international law, in contradistinction from its development, not many will argue that international law faces severe challenges in the developing world in contrast to the developed world. In the developing world, the first problem of international law is lack of its popularity. This arises through a combination of lack of awareness, of most law students, about the utility and relevance of international law to their societies. Secondly, the marketing of international institution and materials, has almost a Western bias: international institutions such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court (ICC), World Bank, are all located in the West. Most international law books report cases and jurisdictions that are preponderant Western as if cases and courts in developing countries make no contribution to international law development.
Addressing these challenges calls for a greater balancing acts in the citing and administration of international institutions; it requires a more even coverage of international law; it necessitates making international law more visible to developing countries, and making their contributions to international law more visible to the world. On their own, developing countries must do more to popularize international law in their academic curricula, expose their judges more greatly to international law, and afford international lawyers from the developing countries more opportunity in the dissemination and practice of international law.
Professor Ademola Abass joined the UNU Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) as a Research Fellow in Peace and Security in 2010. He is also the Head of Peace and Security Programme. He is a former Professor of International Law and Organisation at Brunel University, West London and was educated at the Universities of Lagos, Cambridge, and Nottingham. He holds a Ph.D. in International Law and has previously taught in several British universities. He is the author of Complete International Law.
Oxford University Press is a leading publisher in international law, including the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, latest titles from thought leaders in the field, and a wide range of law journals and online products. We publish original works across key areas of study, from humanitarian to international economic to environmental law, developing outstanding resources to support students, scholars, and practitioners worldwide. For the latest news, commentary, and insights follow the International Law team on Twitter @OUPIntLaw.
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Image credit: The United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York. Photo by Patrick Gruban, 2006. CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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By Jo Wojtkowski
This year’s joint ASIL/ILA Annual Meeting is of historic importance for the international law community. It is the first time that ASIL and the International Law Association (ILA) have joined forces to create a single combined conference of epic proportions. According to ASIL it is “expected to be one of the largest in international law history.”
ASIL’s 108th Annual Meeting and ILA’s 76th Biennial Conference will be held in Washington, DC, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, from 7-12 April 2014.
The 2014 conference theme is ‘The Effectiveness of International Law’, and participants will be tackling difficult questions such as: When, how, and why is international law most effective? Do the challenges facing international law vary across the globe? What role do non-state actors play in making international law more or less effective? Oxford Journals have pulled together a collection of articles from across our international law journals to tie-in with the theme.
More than 40 program sessions will address key topics across international law including the Approach of Courts to Foreign Affairs to National Security, Intelligence Material and the Courts, the Internet and International Law, Domestic Human Rights Enforcement after Kiobel, and even The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act’s Turn to International Law, to name but a few.
Here are some of the conference events we’re excited about:
- Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Oxford Online Reception: Join us at the OUP Booth #1-3, for light cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and scholarly conversation. Learn more about Oxford Online and receive two months of free access to our online law resources including Oxford Public International Law, Max Planck Encylopedia of Public International Law, Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law, Oxford Reports on International Law, and Oxford Constitutions of the World.
- Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Grotius Lecture: Radhika Coomaraswamy, former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict and on Violence against Women, will discuss women and children in international law.
- Thursday, April 10, 2014, 12:30-2:15 p.m.
WILIG Luncheon: Women in International Law Interest Group will have remarks from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, US Supreme Court (retired) and honorees include International Court of Justice Judges Julia Sebutinde, Joan Donoghue, and Xue Hanqin.
- Thursday, April 10, 2014, 4:15-5:45 p.m.
Brower Lecture: Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of Singapore, will discuss international dispute resolution.
- Friday, April 11, 2014, 12:30-2:15 p.m.
Hudson Medal Luncheon: Peter Tomka, International Court of Justice (Discussant, President) will speak with Hudson Medal Winner Alain Pellet, University Paris Ouest.
- Friday, April 11, 2014, 4:15-5:45 p.m.
Friday Plenary: If you missed in WILIG Luncheon, catch ICJ Judges Julia Sebutinde, Joan Donoghue, and Hanqin Xue in conversation.
- Friday, April 11, 2014, 8:00-10:00 p.m.
Gala Dinner: Join the luminaries of the international law community including Cherif Bassiouni (Butcher Medal) and the ASIL Certificate of Merit winners.
Don’t miss ILA’s 22 Committees and nine Working Groups, which include some of the top names in international law. We’re also thrilled to see so many of our authors among the speakers:
- Kai Ambos, Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law and International Criminal Law, Georg-August- Universitat Gottingen, and author of Treatise on International Criminal Law: Volume II: The Crimes and Sentencing
- Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Professor and Director of the Department of Public International Law and International Organization, Faculty of Law, at the University of Geneva, and author of Fresh Water in International Law
- Curtis Bradley, William Van Alstyne Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, and author of International Law in the U.S. Legal System
- Jean d’Aspremont, Associate Professor of International Law, Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam, and author of Formalism and the Sources of International Law
- Mark A. Drumbl, Alumni Professor at Washington & Lee University, School of Law, Director of the Transnational Law Institute, and author of Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy
- Jenny S. Martinez, Professor of Law and Justin M. Roach, Jr., Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School, and author of The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law
- André Nollkaemper, Professor of Public International Law, University of Amsterdam, and author of National Courts and the International Rule of Law
- Georg Nolte, Professor of International Law at the Humboldt University in Berlin, and author of Treaties and Subsequent Practice
- Jan Paulsson, head of the international arbitration practice of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and author of The Idea of Arbitration
- Cesare Romano, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, and editor of The Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication
- Ben Saul, Professor of International Law at Sydney Law School, and co-author of The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Yuval Shany, Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in International Law at the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and author of Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts
- Sandesh Sivakumaran, Associate Professor and Reader in Public International Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham, author of The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict, and editor of International Human Rights Law
If you are lucky enough to be joining us in DC, don’t forget to visit the Oxford University Press booth #1-3, where you can browse our award-winning books, and take advantage of the 35% conference discount. Stop by to enter our prize draw for a chance to win an iPad Mini, and pick up a free access passwords to our collection of online law resources, and featured Oxford journals.
To follow the latest updates about the ASIL-ILA joint meeting as it happens, follow us @OUPIntLaw, ASIL @asilorg, and use the hashtag #ASILILA14.
See you in DC!
Jo Wojtkowski is an Assistant Marketing Manager on the Law team at Oxford University Press USA.
Oxford University Press is a leading publisher in international law, including the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, latest titles from thought leaders in the field, and a wide range of law journals and online products. We publish original works across key areas of study, from humanitarian to international economic to environmental law, developing outstanding resources to support students, scholars, and practitioners worldwide. For the latest news, commentary, and insights follow the International Law team on Twitter @OUPIntLaw.
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
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