International Law Weekend – Midwest 2024
ILW-Midwest 2024 was held at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on September 26, 2024. It commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Two dozen of the world’s leading experts in international humanitarian law participated as speakers and panelists, including Jennifer Trahan (NYU Law), Ezequiel Heffes (Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict), Gabor Rona (Cardozo Law), and Craig Martin (Washburn University School of Law). The event focused on whether there is a need for a new Geneva Convention for the challenges of the 21st century.
Read Michael P. Scharf’s overview of this Expert’s Meeting and the published White Paper here.
International Law Weekend – Midwest 2022
ILW-Midwest 2022 was held on September 30, 2022, at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
The theme was International Law and the New Cold War.
The February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the international response represented a tectonic shift in geopolitics. This timely day-long symposium examined how the Ukraine crisis and other recent events have transformed international law and international institutions.
Esteemed panelists spoke on the “Role of International Law in the Russia/Ukraine Conflict”, “Power Shift: Security Council Paralysis and General Assembly Ascendance”, “Information Operations and the New Cold War”, and “A New Era of International Courts and Tribunals.”
In addition to the four panels of leading international law experts, the conference included a morning Keynote Speech by Sean Murphy, member of the U.N. International Law Commission, and a Lunch and Keynote Speech by Ambassador Beth van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice. Closing remarks were given by Honorable Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the International Criminal Court.
More information, including an agenda and video recordings, is available online here.
Previous International Law Weekend Midwest Events:
ILW-Midwest 2021 was held on September 24-25, 2021 at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. It was organized by Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and co-sponsored by ABILA. The conference celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the Endowment of CWRU School of Law’s Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Public International Law & Policy Group. The theme was The Academy and International Law: A Catalyst for Change and Innovation. It included two-dozen expert panelists from international organizations, NGOs, and academic institutions who explored how academia has influenced war crimes prosecutions, peace negotiations, and the pursuit of human rights since World War II. Read more about ILW-Midwest 2021 here.
ILW-Midwest 2019 (September) was held on September 20, 2019 at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. It was organized by CWRU School of Law’s Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and co-sponsored the American Society of International Law, International Association of Penal Law, Cleveland Council on World Affairs, International Law Section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and Greater Cleveland International Lawyers’ Group. The theme was Atrocity Prevention: The Role of International Law and Justice. It included panels on the Security Council veto, social media and atrocity crimes, preventing atrocities in Yemen, the new draft Convention on Crimes Against Humanity, and threats and challenges confronting the International Criminal Court. 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 2021
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.
Previous International Law South Events:
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 2016:
ILW-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.
