The ABILA webinar on the Rule of Law in International Relations will consider the nature, value, purpose, and effectiveness of the rule of law in international affairs. Too often, proponents of the international rule of law assume or assert its content and value without considering or offering convincing arguments to support their assertions. This webinar will seek to articulate a more coherent and persuasive basis for the concept and authority of the rule of law in international affairs. The International Law Association declares as its purpose furthering “international understanding and respect for international law”. Panelists will consider what this requires in practice.

Speakers:

Margaret M. deGuzman: Margaret M. deGuzman is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for International Law and Public Policy at Temple University Beasley School of Law. She also serves as a judge of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, where she currently sits on the Trial Chamber in The Prosecutor v. Félicien Kabuga.

Mortimer Sellers: Mortimer Sellers is the Regents Professor of the University System of Maryland and director of the University of Baltimore Center for International and Comparative Law. Sellers has written numerous books and articles on international law, constitutional law, the philosophy of law, comparative law, and legal history. He is the co-editor (with Michael Cooper) of the Cambridge University Press book series ASIL Studies in International Legal Theory and co-editor (with David Gerber) of the Cambridge series ASCL Studies in Comparative Law. Professor Sellers is the Co-Director of Studies of the ABILA and Chair of the ILA Study Group on the Rule of Law in International Relations.

Gregory Shaffer: Gregory Shaffer is the Scott K Ginsburg Professor of International Law at Georgetown Law. Professor Shaffer served as President of the American Society of International Law from 2022-2024. Professor Shaffer is a globally recognized expert on law and globalization, with a specialization in international trade law. His publications include twelve books and over one hundred articles and book chapters, and his work is among the most cited in the international law field. The work is cross-disciplinary, addressing such topics as transnational legal ordering, legal realism, hard and soft law, comparative institutional analysis, public-private networks in international trade, the impact of the rise of China and other emerging economies on international law, and the ways trade and investment law implicate domestic regulation and social and distributive policies.

Ioanna Tourkochoriti: Ioanna Tourkochoriti is an Associate Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Baltimore. She is a leading scholar on comparative law, jurisprudence and human rights. She has published numerous articles on comparative constitutional law, freedom of expression and anti-discrimination law with prominent journals all around the world. Her well-received book Freedom of Speech: The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. She is currently leading several international research networks on legal philosophy, hate speech online, expressive freedoms and anti-discrimination law, and business and human rights.