Announcements: UNCITRAL Companion Book Launch; CfA Human Rights Accountability of State-Like Entities; HILAC Lecture Series; China and Europe in the African Continent Conference; Arguing Cases before International Courts and Tribunals’ Event; Struggle for Justice in Palestine Panel; Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement Workshop

1. Virtual Book launch – The Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023). Co-edited by Rishi Gulati, Thomas John and Ben Koehler, the Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL is now out. This is the second in the trilogy of books on the three key international institutions mandated to work on private international and international private law. The Elgar Companion to the HCCH has already been published in 2020, with the Elgar Companion to UNIDROIT out in 2024. The Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL brings together a diverse selection of contributors from a variety of legal backgrounds to present the past, present and future prospects of UNCITRAL instruments. The book will be virtually launched by the Secretary of UNCITRAL, Ms Anna Joubin-Bret, on 14 December 2024 at 13:00 CET. The launch event will also include a panel discussion. Register here.

2. Call for Abstracts: Human Rights Accountability of Non-Universally Recognised States and State-Like Entities. The Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law (UCALL) invites scholars and practitioners to submit abstracts for the upcoming workshop on ‘Human Rights Accountability of Non-Universally Recognised States and State-Like Entities’. The workshop aims at clarifying the human rights obligations and responsibility rules applicable to State-like entities and non-universally recognized States, as well as the role that international institutions play or should play to address human rights violations committed by these actors. Authors can submit their abstract by 15 December 2023.

3. The Hague Initiative for Law and Armed Conflict (HILAC) Lecture Series. The T.M.C. Asser Instituut, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Center for International Law and the Dutch Red Cross, are hosting two upcoming HILAC lectures. The first, entitled “New Technologies in Modern Warfare”, will take place on 11 December 2023 (register here). The second, which is also organised in collaboration with the University of Groningen, is entitled “Hate Speech and Incitement: International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Perspectives” and will take place on 18 January 2024 (register here).

4. China and Europe in the African Continent Conference. On 30 November and 1 December, Sant’Anna School of Advance Studies will host the conference “China and Europe in the African Continent”. 40 scholars and practitioners from all the regions will gather to discuss issues of sustainable development, peace and security, health, foreign investments, and free trade agreements. Prof. Olabisi D. Akinkubbe and Prof. Lina Benabdallah will provide two keynotes. For more info and how to attend, see here.

5. Arguing Cases before International Courts and Tribunals’ Hybrid Event, Bocconi University. Kate Parlett (Twenty Essex Chambers) and Lord Verdirame KC (Kings College London, Twenty Essex Chambers) in conversation with Roger O’Keefe (Bocconi University), 24 November 2023, 4:30-6:00PM (CEST). For the practising lawyer, how is arguing cases before international courts and tribunals different from arguing cases before national courts? Does it depend on whether the lawyer hails from the civil law or common law tradition? Does how the lawyer argue the case depend on the specific international court or tribunal, on whether the lawyer is representing a state or a private party, on the political dimension to the dispute, and so on? These and other issues raised by arguing cases before the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights, international investment tribunals and other international judicial bodies will be discussed at this event. Register here.

7. Common Interests and Common Spaces: Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement Workshop. On Wednesday 13 December 2023, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies will host a workshop on Common Interests and Common Spaces: Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement. This event kicks off a new series of events organised by the Leiden Forum on the Architecture of International Justice, and features a keynote from Professor Malgosia Fitzmaurice (Queen Mary University London). See the program for more details.  In order to attend the event, registration is required. Register until 6 December, 16.00 hrs.