Announcements: SIEL US Trade Policy Under Biden; Memory, Law and Rights Conference; Folly of U.S. Sanctions against the ICC; UN Audiovisual Library of International Law; Integrity in International Justice Panel Discussion; CfS UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries; House of Wisdom Podcast

1. SIEL January Conversations: US Trade Policy Under the Biden Administration – What to Expect or Hope For? The Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is hosting its January Conversation entitled ‘US Trade Policy Under the Biden Administration: What to Expect or Hope For?’ with ambassador Ujal Singh Bhatia, Ana Swanson (The New York Times), Desirée LeClercq (Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations), Alan Beattie (Financial Times), and chaired by Simon Lester, (Cato Institute). 28 January 2021, 2pm CET Time. Zoom registration available here. For more information see here.

2. International Conference: Memory, Law and Rights. This virtual conference is being hosted from Venice, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It will take place on 3 February at 4:30pm, and will be hosted in English. To register, please see here. 

3. The Folly of U.S. Sanctions against the International Criminal Court. Since the inception of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998, the United States has had both hostile and cooperative relations with the ICC. The outgoing U.S. administration took hostility to a new level, imposing legal sanctions on the Court’s high-level officials in the same way the government imposes civil and criminal sanctions against those who provide material support to terrorists. This panel will explore the state of litigation challenging these sanctions, and how and why the incoming administration’s approach to the ICC might differ from that of its predecessor. It will take place on 3 February 5:00 pm GMT. The panel is co-sponsored by the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR) and the International Humanitarian Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA). It  will be held over Zoom and a link will be sent out the morning of the event. Please use this link to register.

4. 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 to the Lecture Series and Historic Archives of the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law: A lecture by Mr. Michael W. Lodge on “The Legal Regime for the Deep Seabed under Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”; an introductory note by Professor Mónica Pinto on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966; and an introductory note by Professor Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, 1972. 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”.

5. Online Panel Discussion and Book Launch: ‘Integrity in International Justice’. The International Nuremberg Principles Academy will be holding the online launch of the fourth volume of the Nuremberg Academy Series, entitled Integrity in International Justice, edited by Morten Bergsmo and Viviane E. Dittrich on 2 February. The event will include a brief presentation of the book followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Viviane Dittrich, Deputy Director of the Nuremberg Academy. The panel will discuss integrity at international justice institutions focusing, inter alia, on benchmarks in the election and mandates of high-level officials, the ICC’s Independent Expert Review, impartiality and independence as well as available and required measures to uphold and safeguard integrity in international justice institutions. Speakers: Judge Richard Goldstone, Judge Ivana Hrdličková, Judge Adel Maged, Brigid Inder and Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal. 2 February, 2.00 – 3.30pm CET, via Zoom. More information and registration here.

6. Call for Submissions: UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries. The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries is looking for submissions for our 2021 report on the provision of military and security cyber products and services by ‘cyber mercenaries’ and its human rights and IHL impacts. Existing research and targeted submissions are welcome. The deadline for submissions is 12 February 2021. For further details and information on the format for submissions, see here. 

7. House of Wisdom Podcast. In the newest episode of the House of Wisdom podcast, Professor Gleider Hernandez (KU Leuven and Open Universiteit) joins Aniq Ahmed and Dr. Deepak Mawar to discuss topics such as how climate change litigation can help tackle the environmental crisis, whether academics should be political activists, and the importance of theoretical research. The podcast is here as well as on spotify, apple, google podcast and many more podcast platforms.