In honor of ILW 2025’s theme of ‘Crisis as Catalyst,’ ABILA is hosting its next blogging symposium with the International Humanitarian Law Committee. Previous symposia have been sponsored by the International Environmental and Energy Law Committee (see here) and the International Investment Law Committee (see here). Editors for this Symposium are Professor Gabor Rona, Anne Harper, and Freya Doughty-Wagner.

Crisis as Catalyst in International Law:

“ILW 2025 will explore how crises can serve as transformative moments that challenge and reshape the framework of international law.  Whether political, environmental, economic, or humanitarian, crises compel local, regional, and global actors to confront the limitations of extant legal systems. By serving as catalysts for innovation, crises also provide opportunities to reevaluate and reconstruct international legal norms. This process highlights the dynamic nature of international law, which must balance its foundational principles with the need for flexibility in response to unprecedented events. ILW 2025 encourages participants to reimagine international law.”

Crisis as Catalyst in International Humanitarian Law lends itself to many blog themes. These may include, but are not limited to:

– Regulation of private military companies;

– The obligation to apply legal advice to targeting decisions, in light of the firing of TJAGs;

– Secretary Hegseth’s “War on Warriors” effect on IHL compliance;

– A review of status of Additional Protocols;

– International Criminal Court sanctions;

– Enforcement of Leahy Laws and the “ensure respect” obligation of the Geneva Conventions;

– The effect of US sanctions on engagement with armed groups;

– Artificial intelligence and accountability;

– Humanitarian action/obligations and principles;

– Occupation vs Annexation;

– Challenges to the implementation of principles of distinction and proportionality in modern warfare;

– Detention and trial by non-state armed groups;

– Accountability challenges relating to drones and other forms of remote targeting;

– Obligations in the development of new weapons technology;

– Enhancing accountability through the new Ljubljana/The Hague Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance.

To participate, kindly submit a 200-word abstract and a brief biography to Freya Doughty-Wagner at [email protected] by June 27, 2025. Abstracts and biographies may be in Word or PDF format. Please include the phrase ‘blog symposium’ in the email’s subject line. Abstracts must address the ILW 2025 theme from an international humanitarian law perspective.

Five abstracts will be selected. Submissions may come from law students, academics, or practitioners. Undergraduates are not able to apply at this time. Blogs may not be cross-posted to other blogging platforms.

Successful applicants will be notified by July 10, 2025, and requested to prepare a 1,500-word first draft with hyperlinks as references and an attached open-access image by July 31, 2025. All blogs may undergo editing, subject to author approval, before publication. We anticipate posting the edited, complete blogs to our website and across our social media the week of August 25, 2025. The best blog will also be included in our biannual print newsletter.