Announcements: COVID-19 and International Law Webinar; Reconceptualizing International Law Series; UN Audiovisual Library of International Law; CfP Cambridge International Law Journal; CfS International Trade and Business Law Review; National University of Singapore Postdoctoral Fellowship

1. COVID-19 and International Law Webinar. The Bocconi University, with the support of the European Society of International Law, is organising a webinar on the theme of ‘COVID-19 and International law: Novel Strain or old wine in new test tubes?’. The Webinar will be held on 15 December 2020 at 13.30-18.00. As the blogosphere breathlessly attests, the COVID-19 pandemic and the reactions of states to it have thrown up a host of issues of international law. There is talk in the international legal academy of a turning point … as there was last time something big and out of the ordinary occurred. To what extent is this talk justified and to what extent is it just hype? The webinar will examine these and more specific questions of international law raised by the current global health crisis. The first panel focuses on issues of “rights, obligations and responsibility” and the second panel focuses on “defences”. The full programme can be found here and you can register here.

 

2. Reconceptualizing International Law Series. The traditional ways in which we conceptualize and practice international law may be insufficient to address the pressing issues of global injustice and systemic inequality. This Series (to run through 2021) will feature academics and practitioners who will engage in critical thinking across the core topics of public international law to conceptualize practical measures and mechanisms to convert and transform normative foundations of justice into procedural and substantive realities for today’s world. In the first session to be held at 3pm EST on Wednesday 2 December, the roundtable will address how the status quo came to be, as well as how and why there is a need to reconceptualize international law to address matters of justice and inequality. This series is co-organized by Independent International Legal Advocates, International Arbitration Group of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and the TWAIL Seminar at UCLA Law. Registration for the Zoom webinar can be found here.

 

3. New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added the following materials: a lecture by Mr. Steven Hill on “Legal Aspects of the Work of NATO”; a lecture by Professor Donald M. McRae on “Varieties of International Dispute Settlement: From Litigation to Conciliation”; a lecture by Mr. Manuel Rama Montaldo on “Aspectos conceptuales e históricos del proceso de codificación y de desarrollo progresivo del derecho internacional en la Naciones Unidas, con especial referencia a la labor de la Comisión de Derecho Internacional”; and an introductory note by Mr. Hans Corell on Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the prosecution under Cambodian law of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, 2003. The Audiovisual Library of International Law is also available as a podcast on SoundCloud and can also be accessed through the relevant preinstalled applications on Apple or Google devices, or through the podcast application of your preference by searching “Audiovisual Library of International Law”.

 

4. Call for Papers: The Cambridge International Law Journal. The Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) is currently accepting paper proposals for its 10thAnnual International Law Conference, titled ‘National Sovereignty and International Co-operation: The Challenges of Navigating Global Crises’. The Conference will be held entirely online from 18 – 20 March 2021. Please find the Call for Papers available here.  

 

5. Call for Submissions: International Trade and Business Law Review Volume XXIII. The International Trade and Business Law Review (‘ITBLR’) invites submissions for publication in Volume XXIII of the ITBLR in 2021. The ITBLR is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles, case notes, comments, and book reviews on international trade, business law, investment, commercial arbitration, and governance and regulation. Submissions utilising comparative analyses incorporating international perspectives are particularly welcomed. Articles should not exceed 10,000 words in length and should include an abstract of approximately 200 words. Case notes, comments, and book reviews should not exceed 2,500 words. All footnotes must be consistent with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition. Please submit articles for this issue via email to ITBLR {at} curtin.edu(.)au">ITBLR {at} curtin.edu(.)au. Further information on the journal can be accessed here. The ITBLR will accept submissions until 31 July 2021, with the expectation of publishing at the end of 2021.