In honor of ILW 2024’s theme of ‘powerless law or law for the powerless?‘ ABILA is hosting its second blogging symposium. The International Investment Law Committee has sponsored the second and final symposia of 2024. Look out for different symposia themes in 2025.

To participate, kindly submit a 200-word abstract and a brief biography to Freya Doughty-Wagner at [email protected] by December 5, 2024. 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 2024 theme from an international investment law perspective. For inspiration, please see an ILW24 international investment law panel description below.

International Investment and Human Rights: How Does International Law Control Environmental Impact on Local Communities?

Large-scale industrial projects are economically important but can have pernicious effects on surrounding communities. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in the recent landmark decision of La Oroya v. Peru, held Peru to be internationally responsible for its failure to protect the people of La Oroya from pollution generated by a century-old metal smelter complex. At the same time, the foreign owner of the complex continues to seek damages before an investor-State arbitral tribunal in Renco v. Peru for Peru’s failure to afford adequate flexibility in meeting pollution control regulations. Based on this fascinating case study, the panel will assess what contributions international human rights and investment law can and should make to controlling the impact of such projects.

Additionally, please find two examples of blogs from ABILA’s first symposium here and here.

Successful applicants will be notified by December 12, 2024 and requested to prepare a 1,500-word piece with hyperlinks as references and an attached open-access image by January 20, 2025. All blogs may undergo editing, subject to author approval, before publication.