Announcements: Highest European Courts Discussion; Martens Summer School on International Law; Legal Pluralism, Voluntary Compliance, and Universal International Law Discussion; CfP AI, Business and Human Rights; Unpacking Transitional Justice Series Seminar; Detention During Pandemic Webinar; CfP International Investment Law & New Technologies; Athens Summer Law School; CfP The European Social Charter Turns 60; CfS The International Trade and Business Law Review; Essex Public International Law Lecture; Hablemos de Derecho Internacional; Lecture on the Regime of International Straits; UN Audiovisual Library of International Law

1. Challenges and Perspectives of the Highest European Courts Discussion. The International Forum of the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana is hosting a discussion between Professor Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union and Professor Robert Spano, President of the European Court of Human Rights, on Challenges and Perspectives of the Highest European Courts. The discussion, in English, will be moderated by Shaheed Fatima QC (London) and Professor Joseph H. H. Weiler (New York). It will take place on Thursday 27 May 2021, between 16:30 and 18.00 hours CEST (Ljubljana time) by Zoom. Participation is possible upon registration until Friday 21 May. The number of participants is limited.

2. 9th Martens Summer School on International Law. The Summer School organized by the University of Tartu in Estonia, will take place online on 26 – 30 July 2021. Application deadline is 25 May 2021 and the study fee is 50 EUR. In 2021, professors teaching in the summer school include Mykola Gnatovsky (Kyiv), Iulia Motoc (Strasbourg; Bucarest), Alex G. Oude Elferink (Utrecht) and Martins Paparinskis (UCL, London). The course director is Lauri Mälksoo (University of Tartu) and the co-director Dr Alexander Lott (Tartu and Tromso) will hold this year’s Martens lecture. For further information, see here or contact martens.summer.school {at} ut(.)ee . 

3. Discussion Group: Legal Pluralism, Voluntary Compliance, and Universal International Law. The SLS International Law Section is hosting a discussion on legal pluralism in international law with Dr Julie Fraser (Assistant Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University). Julie will discuss the incorporation of local norms, using Islamic law as an example, and how we can promote the universality of international law. Attendees are encouraged to share examples from their own research and exchange views in this informal lunchtime discussion group. Register interest to attend this discussion group no later than Monday 24 May at 17:00 (BST) by email to: Alexander.Gilder {at} rhul.ac(.)uk.

4. Call for Papers: Artificial Intelligence – The New Frontier of Business and Human Rights. The Business and Human Rights Working Group of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research and the Asser Institute invite abstract submissions for a one-day workshop focusing on the human rights responsibilities of private businesses that produce, sell and use AI technologies, as well as the responsibility of States in regulating private actors in order to safeguard human rights. Suggested topics include: human rights as a legal check on AI; the translation of business and human rights discourse into practice; embedding human rights compliance into AI products; and the use of AI tools in the framework of human rights due diligence processes. Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be submitted to c.l.lane {at} rug(.)nl before 14 June 2021 (please see the call for papers for more information). The workshop will take place on 7 September 2021.

5. Unpacking Transitional Justice Series, Seminar 3 – Justice: The Political Economy of International (Criminal) Law. The Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL) at the University of Amsterdam and Melbourne Law School’s Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH) are hosting the second seminar of the Series ‘Unpacking Transitional Justice: International Law, Memory, and Power’ convened by Dr Eliana Cusato and Valeria Vázquez Guevara. Seminar 3 will be held online on Wednesday 26 May and feature Associate Professor Christine Schwöbel-Patel (Warwick) and Dr Hannah Franzki (Bremen) presenting on the theme of ‘Justice: the political economy of international (criminal) law’. For information and registration, see here.

6. European Court of Human Rights’ Webinar on ‘Detention During Pandemic’. The Criminal Law Group of the European Court of Human Rights, in cooperation with the University of Bologna, Liverpool John Moores University, Zagreb Law Faculty and ‘Beyond Detention’ Interest Group is convening a series of webinars on the broader theme of ‘Punishment, Detention, Crisis: Academic Judicial Dialogues’. The third instalment of the series is scheduled for Thursday 20 May 2021 at 3pm London time. The Webinar is chaired by the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, Professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain, and features Triestino Mariniello (Reader in Law at Liverpool John Moores University) and Roberto Chenal (Lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights) as speakers, and Liora Lazarus (Professor in Law at University of British Columbia) as discussant. The full programme of the event and registration are available on the Event page. 

7. Call for Papers: ESIL-Supported Colloquium on “International Investment Law & New Technologies”. The Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) at Tilburg University is hosting a Colloquium on “International Investment Law & New Technologies”, which will take place on 9 and 10 December 2021, in Tilburg, the Netherlands, and is jointly organized by TILEC, the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Law and the Athens Public International Law Center (Athens PIL) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Law. Abstracts must not exceed 800 words and must be submitted by 28 May 2021, via email to agourg {at} law.uoa(.)gr; gdimitropoulos {at} hbku.edu(.)qa; and P.Delimatsis {at} uvt(.)nl. The full call for papers can be found here. 

8. Athens Summer Law School on International Investment Law 2021. The Athens Public International Law Center (Athens PIL) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Law and ELSA Athens, are organising the 6th edition of the Athens Summer Law School on International Investment Law, between 23 – 28 August 2021. The Summer Law School on International Investment Law 2021 will take place in webinar format and will consist of a total of 30 hours of interactive lectures over 6 days. The programme will also feature an online interactive workshop conducted under the aegis of ICDR Y&I. The application period will close on 31 May 2021 at 23.59 CEST. For more information, see here.

9. Call for Papers – The European Social Charter Turns 60: Advancing Social and Economic Rights Across Jurisdictions.  As part of an initiative taken within the Department of Law of the University of Turin, Italy and under the auspices of the Council of Europe, a call for papers on the role played by the European Social Charter has been launched. The call is to appear in a special issue of a peer reviewed law journal on this topic (publication expected mid-2022). Submissions must neither be under review nor have been published elsewhere. Authors of some of the selected papers will be invited to speak at a Conference, to be held in Turin in October/November 2021. Deadline for application: 2 August 2021.

10. Call for Submissions: The International Trade and Business Law Review. 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. 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 3,800 words. All footnotes must be consistent with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4^th edition. Submit articles for this issue via email to the ITBLR’s Editorial Consultants, Dr Sharmin Tania and Dr Martin Allcock at ITBLR {at} curtin.edu(.)au. The ITBLR will accept submissions for Volume XXIII until 31 July 2021, with the expectation of publishing at the end of 2021.

11. Essex Public International Law Lecture. Professor Dianne Otto (Melbourne Law School). Rethinking International Law’s ‘Peace’: A queer feminist perspective 24th May, 12-1pm UK time. For more details and to register, please see here.

12. Hablemos de Derecho Internacional (HDI) – The International Legal Podcast (Spanish). HDI recently added the following Episodes in Spanish: Dra. Erika Guevara Rosas – La Protección de los Derechos Humanos por Amnistía Internacional; Dr. Fernando Bordin – Una verdadera charla sobre la costumbre internacional (Premium) ; Prof. Alonso Gurmendi – Conflictos Armados No-Internacionales: El Perú y América Latina; Dra. María Amparo Albán – La Protección de Áreas Marinas bajo el Derecho Internacional; Gota 9: Derecho de Asilo / Haya de la Torre (Colombia c. Perú) (Premium); Prof. Carlos Gil Gandía – Reparación de Víctimas de Crímenes Internacionales – Corte Penal Internacional (Premium); and Dr. Angel V. Horna – Una conversación exitosa sobre la delimitación de fronteras marítimas. 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 here, or on HDI’s social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube.

13. Lecture on the Regime of International Straits: Freedoms, Rights and Obligations at Stake. The Convenors of the Essex Public International Law Lecture Series (Dr Meagan Wong and Dr Emily Jones) invite you to attend a lecture by Judge Ida Caracciolo, International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, entitled ‘The regime of international straits: freedoms, rights and obligations at stake’ chaired by Dr Meagan Wong. Join by Zoom on Monday 17 May at 6pm BST. For more details and to register, see here. To sign up for other events in the series, see here.

14. New Addition to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. The Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs recently added an introductory note by Heiner Bielefeldt and Michael Wiener on the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief of 1981 to the Historic Archives of the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law.