Foundations & Futures of International Law

On 23 and 24 May 2014, The Dickson Poon School of Law played host to an impressive group of international lawyers, practitioners and researchers, gathered together to attend the International Law Association British Branch Spring Conference 2014.  Entitled ‘Foundations and Futures of International Law’, the Conference was organised by a committee chaired by the Dean, Professor David Caron, and included Professor Guglielmo Verdirame, Dr Thomas Schultz, Dr Philippa Webb, Dr Federico Ortino, Breony Allen, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Pelin Ekmen and Gemma Noyce.

Revisiting the foundations of international law, while also imagining its possible futures, the Conference featured 14 different panels,with speakers addressing a vast range of pressing international law topics,from emerging challenges in the law of armed conflict, to contemporary maritime boundary delimitation issues, to the protection of foreign investments.

Over 175 delegates attended the Conference, travelling from as far afield as Australia and Singapore to hear from panellists and chairs,including leading academics, legal counsel from international institutions, practitioners from private practice and government, and up-and-coming researchers, as well as two much anticipated keynote speakers. 

The first keynote lecture, which opened the Conference on Friday morning 23 May, was delivered by Professor James Crawford of the University of Cambridge, who discussed the identification and development of customary international law. 

The second keynote address was delivered at the Conference dinner at the Inner Temple. Professor Philip Allott of the University of Cambridge discussed the ‘The Idealist’s Dilemma’, noting that there has never been a better time to be an international lawyer, but that the international world suffers from ‘a grotesque poverty of philosophy’. He inspired all in attendance to remain optimistic that ‘International Law will have a better future, playing its proper part in the making of a radically better human world’.

The ILA British Branch Conference was kindly sponsored by: Volterra Fietta, The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Shell, Oxford University Press and Routledge.

Photos from the conference are available on the School Flickr account here.

The first keynote address by Professor James Crawford is available on YouTube here. 

See forthcoming events from The Dickson Poon School of Law.