The unifying theme for ILW 2026 is [R]evolution in the International Legal Order, as follows:

“This conference will examine the re-ordering of the international legal order at a pivotal moment of transition. Shifts in global power, challenges to bedrock legal principles, including the prohibition on the use of force, and retreat from long-standing international commitments pose challenges to the status quo, creating both uncertainty and opportunities for renewal. As some traditionally dominant states scale back their engagement with international law and institutions, space opens to reconsider the global distribution and exercise of authority and responsibility.”

Plenary Speakers include:

Elinor Hammarskjöld, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel

Oona Hathaway, Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, Yale Law School; ASIL President

Judge Kimberly Prost, International Criminal Court (presenting virtually)

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International Law Weekend 2026 will begin with our Emerging Voices panel, generously sponsored by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. This year’s Emerging Voices are:

Shah Maruf Uddin Ahmad, Lecturer at the East West University’s Department of Law, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Hosung Ahn, DPhil Candidate in Law at Jesus College, University of Oxford

Minju Kang, Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School and a Postdoctoral Fellow with ChainGE Lab, a European Research Council-funded project hosted by Tel Aviv University and the European University Institute

François Naaman, Associate with Vinson & Elkins LLP and a recent law graduate of Columbia Law School

Gülce Ecem Uçar, PhD Candidate in Crime and Criminal Procedure Law, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences, Türkiye

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Panel Titles:

Customary International Law and International Legal Theory:

Alternative Orders: [R]evolution or Reconstitution?

Can Customary International Law Rescue and Revolutionize the International Legal Order?

Fundamental Principles of International Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Sovereignty in Pieces

International Criminal Law:

The Court Under Siege: ICC Independence in an Era of Great Power Hostility

Evolving ICL: Prohibiting the Recruitment of Children, Gender-Based Crimes & the Slave Trade as Crimes against Humanity

Progressing International Law in a World on Fire: The Possibilities of the Crimes Against Humanity Treaty

International Environmental and Energy Law:

Climate Change Advisory Opinions One Year On: Evolution or Re‑Ordering of International Law?

From Advisory Opinions to Action: Climate Displacement, Regional Leadership, and the Reimagining of International Law

Overshoot of 1.5ºC and International Law: Obligations, Responsibility, and Climate Repair

International Human Rights Law:

Comparative Approaches to Human Rights Enforcement: Safeguarding the Rule of Law

From Fragmentation to (R)evolution: Reconnecting Gender and International Law at the United Nations

Peace as (R)evolution: Changing the Narrative of International Law

Reparations for Legacies of Colonization: Opportunity Arising from Chaos

International Humanitarian Law:

Arms Control, WMD, and the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

The Evolving Nature of Armed Conflict at Sea: A Changing World Meets an Old Body of Law in Naval Warfare

Fighting Legal Wars and Fighting Wars Legally: The Future of Jus ad Bellum and its relationship to Jus in Bello

Reverberating Harm and the Protection of Health in War: Rethinking Proportionality, Precaution, and Accountability

Revolutionizing The Battlefield: The Risks and Opportunities of Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence

International Institutions/Organizations:

Immunity Under Pressure: International Organizations Between Functional Protection and Adequate Accountability

Legal Adviser Roundtable: UN Legal Practice in a Time of Crisis

Nicaragua at 40: The Judgment that Rewired International Law

International Investment and Trade:

Trade in Knowledge in an Unstable Global Economy: Navigating AI Governance, Technical Standards, and (Invisible) Tariffs

Venezuela: From Upheaval to Economic Reintegration?

International Settlement of Disputes:

Beyond Winner‑Takes‑All: Conciliation and the Evolution of International Dispute Resolution

Concurrent Proceedings: Where to from here on a Hague Convention?

No Peace Without Process: Pacific Settlement and the Future of Inter-Arab Disputes

Concurrent Proceedings: Where to from here on a Hague Convention?

International Space Law:

Evolving Rules of International Space Communications: The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Radio Conference (WRC27)

Law of the Sea:

Flying False Colors: Shadow Fleets and the Crisis of Flag State Jurisdiction

Reordering of the International Order:

General Counsel Roundtable: Doing Good is Hard Work

Here Comes the Middle Powers: Are they poised to take international law leadership?

[R]evolutionizing Economic Statecraft in a Multipolar World

Rewriting the Global Legal Map? China, the Indo-Pacific, and the [R]evolution of International Legal Order

Career Panels:

Adventures and Misadventures in International Law

Jessup Compromis Q&A with the International Law Students Association

Pathways to Employment in International Law with the American Bar Association International Law Section and the International Law Students Association

Planning a Career in International Law with the American Society of International Law

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