Announcements: International Law and the Giulio Regeni’s Affair Talk; The EU as a Global Actor in Maritime Security; Upgrading Trade and Services in EU and International Economic Law; Leadership and Ethics in International Organizations; UN Audiovisual Library of International Law; Spanish Action Plan on Business and Human Rights Conference; CfA International Law for Asia-Pacific; CfA Origins of International Legal Thought

1. International Law and the Giulio Regeni’s Affair Talk. The International Law at Westminster (ILAW) research group invites you to the talk ‘International Law and the Giulio Regeni’s Affair’ on 14 June 2018, which will explore the international law issues pertaining to the kidnapping, torture, and murdering of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Egypt. Attendance is free, but please register here. For the full programme and more info, please see here.  

2. Leiden Law School Conference: The EU as a Global Actor in Maritime Security. Leiden Law School hosts a conference on ‘The EU as a Global Actor in Maritime Security: Competences – Obligations – Accountability’. It takes place in the framework of the ILS 2.0 research project ‘Policing the high seas: maritime law-enforcement in a multi-actor environment’ and is organised by the Europa Institute in cooperation with four Interest Groups of the European Society of International Law (ESIL): the Interest Groups on the EU as a Global Actor, on Migration and Refugee Law, on International Human Rights Law, and on the Law of the Sea. The conference takes place on 25 – 26 October 2018 in Leiden. The aim is to explore what competences the EU has to act in the maritime domain, what obligations it is bound by when doing so, and how judicial oversight can be ensured. Studying the EU’s competences, obligations, and accountability will inform the broader discussion on the current and future role of the EU as a global actor in the maritime domain. We invite submissions of abstracts for papers that engage with these topics. Abstracts should not be longer than 500 words and submitted no later than 30 June 2018 via email to MaritimeSecurity@law.leidenuniv.nl. Travel and accommodation costs of speakers will be reimbursed. More information and a detailed Call for Papers are available here. 

3. Upgrading Trade and Services in EU and International Economic Law Conference. Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands) is hosting a conference on “Upgrading Trade and Services in EU and International Economic Law”. Keynote speeches will be given by Prof. Sybe de Vries and Prof. Panagiotis Delimatsis. The conference will take place on 15 of June in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.  More information, and the possibility to sign up, can be found here.  

4. Leadership and Ethics in International Organizations and Global Governance Conference. The Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, is organizing an international 2 day conference, on 7 – 8 June 2018, on leadership and ethics in international organizations and global governance. The conference marks the end of Professor Jan Klabbers’ five-year Martti Ahtisaari Chair, an Academy of Finland Professorship devoted to the theme ‘Towards a Credible Ethics for Global Governance’ and focusing on the professional roles of relevant actors. See here for more information. 

5. New Additions to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. The Codification Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs is delighted to announce the launch of the podcast channel for the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law (AVL). Over 500 lectures on various topics of international law are now available as audio files, which can be either streamed or downloaded. The audio files can be accessed for free on either the AVL website or the podcast streaming platform SoundCloud. The UN Audiovisual Library of International Law provides high quality international law training and research materials to users around the world free of charge.

6. Spanish Action Plan on Business and Human Rights Conference. A conference entitled ‘I Plan de Acción Nacional sobre Empresas y Derechos Humanos’, addressing the first Spanish Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, will take place at the Law Faculty of the University of Seville on 14 and 15 June 2018 (in Spanish). The final programme and relevant information can be consulted here. 

7. Call for Applications: 2018 United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Asia-Pacific. The 2018 United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Asia-Pacific is organized by the Codification Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in cooperation with the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The United Nations Regional Courses in International Law are intended to enable qualified professionals, in particular government officials and teachers of international law from developing countries and countries with emerging economies, to deepen their knowledge of international law and of the legal work of the United Nations and its associated bodies. The 2018 Regional Course in International Law for Asia-Pacific will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 19 November to 14 December 2018 and will be conducted in English. The deadline for submission of a complete application is 18 June 2018. For more information, visit the website of the 2018 United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Asia-Pacific.

8. Call for Applications: On the Origins of International Legal Thought. The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge will host a seminar on Friday 7 December 2018, ‘On the Origins of International Legal Thought’. Participation is open to academics from around the world. Between three and four positions are available to be filled. Although the call is open to historians and legal scholars working in any period from Ancient Rome to the present, preference will be shown towards historical research framed within the period between 1860 and 1939, especially if concern is shown for private international law, public international law, or legal/state personality in this period. Sympathy towards imperial, interpolitical, and/or interreligious perspectives will be especially welcome. Participants should be especially prepared to contemplate the dynamism of legal thought in various contexts. Abstracts of between 200 and 500 words, along with some indication of whether or not you would like to contribute a chapter to a volume for OUP, should be sent to lawandempirecambridge@gmail.com by 31 July 2018.