Announcements: CfP Obligation in International Law; Right to a Fair Trial Discussion; Spanish International Legal Podcast; Law for Real Conversation; Climate Change and International Law Summer Course; Environmental Law Colloquium; Litigation in Times of Global Crises Workshop; Jindal Society of International Law Vacancies; UNCLOS Webinar

1. Call for Papers: The Concept of Obligation in International Law. The University of Milano-Bicocca, with the support of ESIL, has issued a call for papers for a conference on “The concept of obligation in international law” to be held in Milan, Italy, on 23 – 24 March 2022. The call is here. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15 February.

2. Athens PIL Discussion Group: The Right to a Fair Trial – The Most Litigated Yet Elusive Human Right. This discussion, with Professor Philippa Webb, will take place online (via Zoom) on Wednesday, 9 February at 18.00-19.30 (Athens time zone, EET). Philippa Webb is Professor of Public International Law at King’s College London and a barrister at Twenty Essex Chambers. Register and book tickets here. Or livestream the event on the Athens PIL Youtube page here or via Facebook here.

3. Hablemos de Derecho Internacional (HDI) – The International Legal Podcast (Spanish). HDI recently added the following episodes in Spanish: Dra. Laura Movilla: El Derecho y la Gobernanza Internacional del Agua Dulce; Stephan Adell – El Futuro de los Tratados Bilaterales de Inversión; Dr. Hugo Relva : Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad; and, Dr. Eduard Soler i Lecha – Temas que Marcarán la Agenda Internacional en el 2022. The podcast is available on the main platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or through other podcast applications by searching “Hablemos de Derecho Internacional”. Updated information about the guests and episodes can be found on the website, or on HDI’s social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube.

4. Law for Real: A Conversation with Justice Prof. Susanne Baer. This event will take place on 18 February at 12pm CET. The presentation will address a variety of approaches to the study of law, including critical, interdisciplinary and comparative studies. Special attention will be paid to ‘gender’ as an analytical lens to understand the law, its potential and limits for achieving societal change. As part of this talk, Justice Prof. Baer welcomes a discussion of her career, including the various challenges and opportunities along the legal and academic career pathway. Send  questions in advance to margaria {at} eth.mpg(.)de by 11 February 2022. Justice Prof. Dr. Susanne Baer, LLM (Michigan) serves as Justice of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. She is a Professor of Public Law and Gender Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,  Project Leader of Law – Gender – Collectivity, and  Project Leader of Sub-project A: Focusing Collectivity. Gender, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identitity as Social Group(s) within European Asylum Law funded by DFG.  Register here.

5. 7th Thessaloniki Summer Courses on International Law and Human Rights: Climate Change and International Law. The Kalliopi Koufa Foundation for the Promotion of International Law and Human Rights is hosting the 7^th session of the Thessaloniki Summer Courses on International Law and Human Rights from 28 June – 7 July 2022, on the topic of “Climate Change and International Law”. The summer course will be held in a hybrid format, giving the opportunity for either in person or online attendance, in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols. The Foundation is working actively to make sure that all members of the Summer Courses faculty will give their lectures in person. For more information including registration deadlines, applicable fees and the provisional programme, see here.

6. 8^th Frontiers in Environmental Law Colloquium: Environmental Law and Responsibilities in the Anthropocene. The Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie University, Australia, New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law, University of Auckland and the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment are hosting the 8^th Frontiers in Environmental Law Colloquium, 9 – 11 February 2022. The theme of this year’s Colloquium is: Environmental Law and Responsibilities in the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene epoch confirms that humanity is the primary driver of planetary change. The 8th Frontiers Colloquium encourages participants to engage with a possible new frontier for environmental law: to consider what it might mean to shift the approach of environmental law from ‘what we can get out of nature’ to ‘what we can and must do for it.’ Papers at this year’s Colloquium contemplate how and whether environmental law, broadly defined, sufficiently engages with responsibility in the context of unprecedented global environmental change. There is no fee to attend but attendees must register here. Access the colloquium program here. 

7. The Balancing of Rights, General Interests and Science in International Litigation in Times of Global Crises Workshop. This workshop, on the Balancing of Rights, General Interests and Science in International Litigation in Times of Global Crises, will take place in hybrid format on 24 – 25 February 2022, at Maastricht University Campus Brussels. The workshop will focus on two research questions. First, how selected international adjudicative bodies balance (a) individual rights with the general interest and (b) conflicting rights. Second, what is the role of scientific evidence in the decisions of the studied international adjudicators, primarily by reference to legal issues arising in conjunction with global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic? The papers’ findings will be published in a special issue of the The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals in 2022. Participants may join online or in-person in Brussels (limited seats). For more information, see here. 

8. Call for Applications: Various Positions (Content Editors, Writers, Coordinating Editors) at Jindal Society of International Law. The Jindal Society of International Law (JSIL) is a student-led initiative at O.P. Jindal Global University, under the aegis of the Centre for the Study of United Nations, and guidance of Faculty Coordinator Professor (Dr.) Vesselin Popovski. International Agora is an extension of JSIL’s efforts towards fostering meaningful conversation. They now plan to launch verticals on commercial international law as well as on alternate dispute resolution and international law, and are therefore looking for international law enthusiasts to fill various positions at the platform. For additional information, please visit their website. For details about the position, eligibility, application process, and more, see here. 

9. Volterra Fietta Webinar: Successes and failures of UNCLOS. This webinar will take place on 1 February, at 17:00 GMT / 18:00 CET. This is the inaugural seminar in Volterra Fietta’s seminar series to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The panel of speakers will be: Malcolm Evans, Professor of public international law at the University of Bristol; Nilüfer Oral, Director of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore and an elected member of the International Law Commission; Alex G. Oude Elferink, Director of the Netherlands Institute of the Law of the Sea and professor of international law of the sea at Utrecht University; and, Martins Paparinskis, Reader in public international law at University College of London and an elected member of the International Law Commission for the 2023-2027 quinquennium. Participants can register by emailing events {at} volterrafietta(.)com. For more information see here. For any queries, email Florentine Vos at florentine.vos {at} volterrafietta(.)com.