International Law Weekend – Midwest
ILW Midwest 2021 is scheduled for September 24-25, 2021, and will focus upon The Academy and International Law: A Catalyst for Change and Innovation. The conference is hosted by Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Perhaps more than in any other legal field, academic institutions and organizations run by academics have had a profound influence on the development of International Law. In this two-day in-person conference, two-dozen expert panelists from international organizations, NGOs, and academic institutions will explore how academia has influenced war crimes prosecutions, peace negotiations, and the pursuit of human rights since the Second World War.
This conference includes a Panel Discussion featuring Judge Silva Fernandez de Gurmendi, President of the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court, and a Keynote Speech featuring Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association, as well as panels on “The Academy and Grotian Moments,” “75th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Judgment: The Academy and War Crimes Prosecutions, The Academy and the War on Terrorism: A 20 Year Retrospective,” and “The Academy and the Pursuit of Peace and Human Rights.”
More information, including an agenda, is available online here.
ILW-Midwest 2019 (September) focused upon Atrocity Prevention: The Role of International Law and Justice. The conference took place at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on September 20, 2019. Read more about ILW-Midwest 2019 here.
ILW Midwest 2019 (March) was held on March 16, 2019 at the University of Dayton School of Law and co-sponsored by ABILA and the University of Dayton Human Rights Center as the 2019 Gilvary Symposium. The Symposium theme was Things Fall Apart or Creative Destruction? The Future of the Rule of Law in International Governance. It included panels on human rights and humanitarian law, international economic law, and global governance more generally and featured a keynote address by Justice Carlos Bernal of the Constitutional Court of Colombia on the problem of transitional justice in Colombia in the wake of the Colombian government/FARC peace agreement. The symposium was made possible by The Honorable James J. Gilvary Fund for Law, Religion, and Social Justice.
International Law Weekend – South
ILW-South 2021 was hosted by the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law, in cooperation with the American Branch. ILW-South 2021 was held virtually on April 7, 2021, and focused on Democracy and Governance in the Internet Era. The conference featured panels on “Civil society’s role in informing, protecting the right of peaceful assembly,” “Political Campaigns: Perspectives from Abroad,” and Social Media and the Language of Statehood,” as well as a roundtable discussion on reforming the U.S. national security state.
More information on ILW-South 2021, including a full list of speakers, is available here.
ILW-South 2017 – The Global Future of International Trade, Human Rights, and Development – was hosted by Texas A&M University School of Law, in cooperation with the American Branch and co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), on March 2-3, 2017. The conference focused on a trio of areas that were the hallmarks and guiding principles of the international order created following the Second World War. That order is now undergoing change, with worldwide debate on what the future global order should look like. Leading scholars, practitioners, and government officials spoke to such issues as how the emerging order will operate, who might gain, and how existing institutions including governments should respond. More information on ILW-South 2017 is available here.
International Law Weekend – West
International Law Weekend-West 2016 took place January 29, 2016, at Brigham Young University Law School in Provo, Utah. The theme for the conference was International Law in a Divided World:
“We live in a divided world. States and nonstate actors cooperate with and combat each other, including on the cyber frontier. International organizations like the International Criminal Court are accused of pursuing their missions along disturbing lines. The President contends with Congress. Secularism contends with religion. Many have; more have not. In the midst of these divisions, what role can international law play? What role should it play?”
As reflected in the program for ILW West 2016, several panels, roundtable discussions, and keynotes addressed issues such as income inequality, international arbitration, corruption, the European migration crisis, and more.
A special thanks to the conference organizer, Prof. David H. Moore, Wayne M. and Connie C. Hancock Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.