Go On! Intlaw teaching

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

"Teaching International Law Beyond the Classroom: Engaging Students in Experiential Learning, in Webpages and Blogs, and in Historical and Empirical Research" is the topic of a conference to be held on Friday, May 6, at Pace Law School in White Plains, New York. Cosponsors are the Teaching International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association.
Co-chairing the event are IntLawGrrl guest/alumna Cindy Galway Buys (Southern Illinois) and Thomas McDonnell (Pace). Through the conference they aim

to raise awareness on different modalities of teaching and researching in the area of international law to expand beyond the traditional classroom and the standard law review article. Law schools around the country have initiated international law and human rights clinics; International law faculty have increasingly used blogs and the internet to carry out their scholarly work; and the legal academy has begun to recognize the contribution that history and empirical research can make. This workshop explores each of these modalities and attempts to help the participants expand their teaching and research accordingly.

As set forth in full in the program among the many speakers are a number of IntLawGrrl guests/alumnae addition to Cindy: Laura Dickinson (Arizona State), Peggy McGuinness (St. John's), and Beth A. Simmons (Harvard).
Details and registration here.

Go On! ILW 2011 proposals sought

(My thanks to IntLawGrrls for the opportunity to contribute this Go On! guest post)

As President of the American Branch of the International Law Association, it's my pleasure to call for panel proposals for International Law Weekend, the annual New York-based meeting that we cohost with the International Law Students Association. This year's meeting will be held October 20-22, 2011, in conjunction with the 90th annual meeting of the American Branch. ILW 2011 will bring together hundreds of legal practitioners, professors, U.N. diplomats, experts from government, NGOs and private industry, and students. It will feature lively and contentious panels, distinguished speakers, and delicious receptions.
The overall theme of ILW 2011 is “International Law and National Politics.”
This year’s three-day conference will focus on issues arising from the interplay and intersection of international rules and norms and domestic politics and policymaking. For example:

To what extent do international standards influence the application and interpretation of national law including complimentary or contrary policies sought by domestic policymakers, non-governmental actors and/or civil society?

Expert panels and discussion sessions will examine these and other issues with regard to such diverse areas as human rights and humanitarian intervention, national security, immigration, trade, labor, health care, and the environment.
Though this is the primary focus of the conference, other inventive ideas and proposals, especially arising from current events, are always welcome for consideration as well.
The Co-Chairs of ILW 2011 are Martin S. Flaherty, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School, mflaherty17@yahoo.com, Sahra Diament of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, diament@un.org, and Jill Schmieder Hereau, Program Coordinator at the International Law Students Association, jshereau@ilsa.org.
The Co-Chairs invite proposals for panels for ILW 2011. Please submit proposals by email to each of the Co-Chairs no later than Wednesday, May 4, 2011. Please also submit a copy of your proposal to me, Ruth Wedgwood, at rwedgwood@jhu.edu and to Executive Committee Chairman John E. Noyes at jen@cwsl.edu.
The proposals should be structured for 90-minute panels, and should:
►Include a formal title, a brief description of the subjects to be covered (no more than 75 words), and the names, titles, and affiliations of the panel chair and three or four likely speakers, with their contact information.
► Describe the format envisaged (point-counterpoint, roundtable, or other). One of the objectives of ILW 2011 is to promote a dialogue among scholars and practitioners from across the legal spectrum, so whenever possible, panels should include presentations of divergent views. In addition, interactive discussions and moderated roundtables are welcome, rather than the traditional format of reading papers.
The inclusion of a broad range of speakers, including lawyers from the United Nations, diplomats from U.N. missions, private practitioners, government regulatory experts and experts from industry are welcome, quite apart from the usual broad range of academic writers and speakers. We seek, above all else, informative and interesting debate.

Go On! ILW-West

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

"2021: International Law Ten Years from Now" is the topic of this year's International Law Weekend-West, the biennial West Coast gathering of the American Branch of the International Law Association.

The conference will be held all day February 26, 2011, at Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Cosponsoring along with the law school and ABILA are the international law sections of the American Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Dozens of panelists, among them IntLawGrrls alumna Linda Carter, will speak on myriad subtopics within international law; specifically, litigation, human rights, intellectual property, trade law, environmental law/climate change, entertainment and media law, dispute resolution, criminal law, cultural law, financial law and institutions, the legal profession, and investment law.

Articles and proceedings will be published in a forthcoming edition of the Southwestern Journal of International Law.

Details on registration, accommodations, etc., are here and here.

Go On! ILW 2010

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

The 89th annual meeting of the American Branch of the International Law Association will be held October 21 through 23 in New York City.

The theme of International Law Weekend 2010 is International Law and Institutions: Advancing Justice, Security and Prosperity.

Topics listed on the Schedule of Events include many on which IntLawGrrls have posted; for example:

► Kosovo advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice

► International Criminal Court post-Kampala

► Climate change

► Lisbon Treaty of the European Union

► International child abduction

► Corporate social responsibility

► International development law

► Targeted killing

Co-Chairs of this year's meeting are Professor Elizabeth Burleson (far left) of the University of South Dakota Law School, Hanna Dreifeldt Lainé (near left) of the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs, Vincent J. Vitkowsky, a partner at the New York law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, and ILSA Program Coordinator Jill Schmieder Hereau.

All attendees are encouraged to preregister for space reasons. Registration is free to members of ABILA, the International Law Students Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and of the many cosponsoring entities, such as the American Society of International Law, whose President, our colleague David D. Caron, will give a keynote address. For persons not members of such groups, the registration fee is $75.

Further details here.

Go On! Seeking panels for ILW 2010

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

Wanted to share with all the Call for Panel Proposals for the next International Law Weekend:

On October 21-23, 2010, the American Branch of the International Law Association and the International Law Students Association will present the annual International Law Weekend in New York, in conjunction with the 89th annual meeting of the American Branch.
ILW 2010 will bring together hundreds of practitioners, professors, members of the governmental and non-governmental sectors and students. It will feature numerous panels, distinguished speakers, receptions, and the Branch’s annual meeting. ILW 2010 will take place at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York on October 21, 2010, and at Fordham University School of Law on October 22 and 23.

The overall theme of ILW 2010 is “International Law and Institutions: Advancing Justice, Security and Prosperity.”
The global strategic and financial turmoil of the last several years has created unprecedented challenges and opportunities for international law and institutions. ILW 2010 will address the role of international law and institutions in reducing conflict, promoting security, fostering human rights, protecting the environment, facilitating trade and investment, and resolving public and private international disputes. Panels will examine subjects such as the extent to which treaties currently under negotiation or consideration would further these objectives, and the operation and effect of international organizations, international courts, and arbitral institutions on the global legal order.
The Co-Chairs of ILW 20010 are Professor Elizabeth Burleson of the University of South Dakota Law School, Elizabeth.Burleson@usd.edu; Hanna Dreifeldt Lainé of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, dreifeldt@un.org; Vincent J. Vitkowsky, Partner, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, vvitkowsky@eapdlaw.com, and Jill
Schmieder Hereau, Program Coordinator at the International Law Students Association, jshereau@ilsa.org.
The Co-Chairs invite proposals for panels for ILW 2010. Please submit proposals by email to each of the Co-Chairs no later than Friday, April 9, 2010. The proposals should be structured for 90-minute panels, and should include a formal title, a brief description of the subjects to be covered (no more than 75 words), and the names, titles, and affiliations of the panel chair and three or four likely speakers. The proposals should also describe the format envisaged (point-counterpoint, roundtable, or other). One of the objectives of ILW 2010 is to promote a dialogue among scholars and practitioners from across the legal spectrum, so whenever possible, panels should include presentations of divergent views.

On the Legal Adviser of the State Department

With the full Senate vote on the nomination of Harold Hongju Koh (below right) to come at some as-yet-unspecified date -- last week, by a 12-5 vote, Koh won Foreign Relations Committee approval -- it seems a good time to reflect on the position for which he's been nominated.
Reflection is much aided by The Role of the Legal Adviser of the Department of State, prepared by the 29 men and 5 women who composed a joint committee of the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association. Aiding the committee was an advisory group comprising 8 men and 1 woman. ASIL's made the timely decision to place the report online at its website; originally it appeared in a 1991 edition of the American Journal of International Law.
The report provokes much thought, and not just for its recommendations on how to strengthen the Office of the Legal Adviser:
► Worth pondering is the examination of the Legal Adviser's role -- as one who "operates within the framework of two separate legal systems," domestic and international, as one whose advice to client "may significantly affect the content and integrity of international rules and institutions," and as one who, because decisions typically are not subjected to judicial review, encounters "only relatively weak external checks."
► Of particular importance is its acknowledgment of the difficulties of assuring that international law is supported, not just in the State Department, but throughout all agencies of the U.S. government. (It's an observation that would seem prescient post-9/11 were it not for the report's reminder that formation of the joint committee had been motivated by concern -- in 1988 -- "that in recent years the United States has taken a number of actions that have been widely questioned on legal grounds both within the United States and by foreign governments in international bodies.")
► Also timeless is the report's conclusion:

... [T]he United States and other nations making up the global commmunity are together facing urgent and complex challenges -- problems of nuclear proliferation, poverty and hunger, environmental degradation, resource depletion, ethnic and religious conflict, and rapidly shifting patterns of global political and economic power. Yet at the same time we stand on the threshold of extraordinary opportunities -- an end to the Cold War, new possibilities for cooperation among the great powers, the resurgence of democratic values, growing international recognition of human rights, and the vast promise of rapidly-developing technology. ...
The Legal Advisor of the Department of State, as well as other U.S. government attorneys involved in international legal issues, will continue to carry heavy responsibilities for safeguarding and furthering our national interest in international law. ...

Guest Blogger: Valerie Epps

It is IntLawGrrls' great pleasure to welcome as today's guest blogger Valerie Epps (right).

Professor of Law and Director of the International Law Concentration at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, Valerie teaches International Law, The Laws of War, and Immigration Law. She has published widely in these fields.

Valerie earned her B.A. from the University of Birmingham in England, J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Her many professional activities include service since 2000 as Vice President of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and, from 2003-2004, as Chair of the Section on International Law of the Association of American Law Schools.

Valerie was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship for the spring semester 2006 to teach International Law and International Human Rights at Fudan University, Shanghai, China, and also has taught at Boston University Law School, the Legal Studies Department of Brandeis University, and the University of San Diego School of Law’s programs in Paris and Mexico City. She has lectured and served as Co-Director of Suffolk’s Summer Program on International and Comparative Law in Lund, Sweden, and has lectured on Human Rights for the International Bar Association in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and on International Law for the U.M.K.C.–Suffolk Continuing Legal Education Program in Oxford, England.

During the spring semester 2008,Valerie was a Visiting Professor at Hongik University College of Law in Seoul, South Korea, where she taught International Law and International Human Rights. Her guest post below discusses an article she published during that visit; it refutes the assumptions underlying the "Bush Doctrine" of preemptive -- indeed, preventive -- war.

Heartfelt welcome!

Go On! International Law Weekend-West

(Go on! is an occasional item on symposia of interest) For a decade now we intlawyers on the West Coast having been making a biennial treak to International Law Weekend-West, a free 2-day conference on all aspects of law organized by American Branch of the International Law Association. Time to put the next one on our schedule:
The 5th biennial ILW-W is set for March 6 and 7, 2009, at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon.
Featured are addresses on “International Criminal Justice: Does It Work?”, by Judge Theodor Meron of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and on “The American Law Institute Goes Global,” by Columbia Law Professor George Bermann. Topics for panels include:
► Prosecution of international war crimes in the United States
► Taming capital markets
► Water resources
► Detention and other treatment of refugees
► NAFTA
► Life cycle of an international technology transaction
► Empirical approaches to developments in international humanitarian law
► Law of the sea and the environment
► Intellectual property rights
► International and foreign law in immigration law practice
Special features of the conference will be a:
► Commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Mare Liberum (Freedom of the Seas), a masterwork by Hugo Grotius, the Dutch legal theorist whose 425th birthday IntLawGrrls marked last year; and a
► Tribute to the late international law scholar Louis Sohn.
Details are available here or by contacting our colleague James A.R. Nafziger at jnafziger@willamette.edu.

Go On! International Law Weekend 2008

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest.) International Law Weekend 2008 will be held October 16-18, 2008, at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th Street, New York City. The Weekend's overall theme is The United States and International Law: Legal Traditions and Future Possibilities. The lead-off panel on Thursday, October 16, at 6:30 p.m., entitled A New Presidency: A New U.S. Policy at the U.N.?, will include Republican and Democratic strategists and academic commentators. The keynote speaker at the annual luncheon on Friday, October 17, at 12:30 p.m. will be John Bellinger, the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State. That Friday evening, the Annual Gala Reception will be hosted by the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations. The ILW 2008 Program will also feature over thirty other panels, addressing topics relating to international trade and investment, international adjudication and arbitration, human rights, international law in U.S. courts, generation of international law, transitional justice and international criminal law, and the international environment. To view the complete ILW schedule and to register for the conference, please visit the websites of the American Branch of the International Law Association or the International Law Students Association.

Write On! International Law Weekend 2008

(Write On! is an occasional item about notable calls for papers.) Already gearing up for its annual East Coast autumn weekend symposium is the American Branch of the International Law Association. International Law Weekend 2008 will take place on October 16-18, 2008, at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in Manhattan. This year's theme: "The United States and International Law: Legal Traditions and Future Possibilities."
Proposals for 90-minute panels are welcome and should be sent to the 3 co-chairs: Catherine M. Amirfar, Debevoise Plimpton (cmamirfar@debevoise.com); Katarina Grenfell, U.N. Office of Legal Affairs (grenfell@un.org); and John E. Noyes, California Western School of Law (jnoyes@cwsl.edu). Submit a formal title, a 75-words-maximum description of the panel, and the names, titles, and affiliations of the panel chair and 3-4 possible speakers. (Presentations frequently appear in a subsequent edition of the ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law.)
Proposal deadline: Friday, April 25, 2008.

Go On! International Law Weekend: Oct. 25-27

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest.) International Law Weekend 2007, the annual conference of the American Branch of the International Law Association, will take place on October 25-27, at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th Street. A wide range of private and public international law topics will be featured in sessions aimed at both academics and practitioners. For the full program --which features a number of IntLawGrrls -- and registration information, please visit the American Branch website.