Announcements: ANZSIL History and Theory of International Law Interest Group; HTIL Book Talk Series; HTIL Reading Group; CfS Cyber Law Toolkit; CfS Critical Perspectives on Global Law and the Environment; House of Wisdom Podcast

1. ANZSIL History and Theory of International Law Interest Group. A new History and Theory of International Law (HTIL) Interest Group has been established. The significance of international legal history and theory is even more pronounced in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, given the central role of international legal doctrines and techniques in legal and political battles surrounding settler colonialism and the ongoing negotiation of settler-Indigenous relations. The HTIL Interest Group is open to all (not only ANZSIL members) who research in the history and theory of international law, or are generally interested in the ways that history and theory might inform their work. The HTIL Interest Group is convened by Dr Ntina Tzouvala (Australian National University), Dr Guy Fiti Sinclair (Victoria University of Wellington) and Dr Cait Storr (University of Technology Sydney), with a view to rotating committee membership in future. The Interest Group can be contacted at htil.anzsil {at} gmail(.)com. To be added to the mailing list, email with ‘Mailing List’ in the subject line. 

2. History and Theory of International Law Interest Group Book Talk Series. To celebrate and disseminate the historically and theoretically orientated research of our members or of interest to those based in Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand, the HTIL Interest Group will host a series of book launches for recent publications. Suggestions for books to launch in the future are most welcome. Everyone is welcome to join for the first event in the series: Humanitarian Disarmament: An Historical Enquiry by Dr Treasa Dunworth (University of Auckland), (CUP, 2020). Dr Dunworth will join, and Dr Amanda Alexander (Australian Catholic University) has kindly agreed to act as a discussant. Thursday 22 October 2020 at 12pm – 1.15pm AEDT (UTS +11) / 2pm – 3.15pm NZDT  

3. History and Theory of International Law Interest Group Reading Group. The first session will be held on Tuesday 17 November 2020 at 1.00pm – 2.15pm AEDT (UTS +11) / 3.00pm – 4.15pm NZDT. The group will be reading Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann, ‘The Battle for International Law: An Introduction’ in Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann (eds), The Battle for International Law: South-North Perspectives on the Decolonization Era (OUP, 2019), 1–31 and Georges Abi-Saab, “The Newly Independent States and the Rules of International Law: An Outline” (1962) 8 Howard Law Journal, 95–121.

4. Call for Submissions: Cyber Law Toolkit. Cyber Law Toolkit, the interactive web-based resource on the international law of cyber operations, is inviting submissions for its next general update in September 2021. Successful authors will be awarded an honorarium. The Toolkit consists of a growing number of hypothetical scenarios, each of which contains a description of cyber incidents inspired by real-world examples and accompanied by detailed legal analysis. To keep pace with the recent developments in the cyber security domain and remain relevant source for practitioners and scholars alike, the Toolkit is regularly updated. The project team welcomes proposals for new scenarios to be included in the 2021 Toolkit update. This call for submissions is open until 15 November 2020. For more information, see the full text of the call.

5. Call for Submissions: Critical Perspectives on Global Law and the Environment. The School of Law and Human Rights Centre, University of Essex (UK), invite contributions to the Workshop ‘Critical perspectives on global law and the environment’ to be held as an online event on 22 – 23 April 2021. The aim of the Workshop is to bring together 8-10 early career scholars from around the world, employing interdisciplinary and critical approaches to the study of environmental issues, e.g. North-South dimension of environmental problems, including from a TWAIL and critical race perspective; critical readings of the law in the Anthropocene; posthuman and new materialist analyses; and queer/gender theory etc. The format of the Workshop is for each participant to produce a paper of 8,000 words, with a short presentation and the opportunity to give feedback to one another based on the submitted paper. Each paper will also have a senior colleague as discussant​. Abstracts no longer than 500 words must be sent for consideration by 1 December 2020 to b.ohdedar {at} essex.ac(.)uk.

6. House of Wisdom: How Ideas Can Shape the World Podcast. Every month on the House of Wisdom podcast, the team interview academic experts from the social science field from around the world about their research and how it can have a positive influence on the wider community outside of academia. They aim to tackle some of the most pressing legal, political and economic matters ranging from state responsibility for modern slavery, big data regulation and business strategies for innovation. The first guests include Professor Philippa Webb, Professor Andrej Zwitter and Dr. Joe Lane. The House of Wisdom Podcast is hosted by Dr. Deepak Mawar, Visiting Lecturer at King’s College London, and Aniq Ahmed, a practitioner in the finance sector. Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and www.houseofwisdompodcast.co.uk, and please follow on twitter and instagram.