Call for Papers: International Conference on the Law and Policy of International Multi-Sourced Equivalent Norms

The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations and the International Law Forum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have issued a call for papers for a two-day international conference on the international law and policy governing the creation and operation of multi-sourced equivalent norms ("MSENs"). The conference will be held in Jerusalem, May 24-25, 2009. Here's the call:

Recent decades have witnessed an impressive process of normative development in international law. As a result, international relations have now reached an unprecedented level of normative density and intensity. While these developments clearly have some positive implications - e.g., they promote the rule of international law, advance important values and facilitate inter-state cooperation - they also present several theoretical challenges worthy of further investigation. One major challenge identified by the International Law Commission (ILC) has been the fragmentation of international law. According to the ILC report on the subject, in the absence of a central authority in international relations, the rapid normative development by different and uncoordinated legal regimes might lead to "conflicts between rules or rule-systems, deviating institutional practices and, possibly, the loss of an overall perspective on the law." One somewhat neglected specific aspect of legal fragmentation is the existence of situations in which distinct international legal rules direct similar or identical behavior, that is, situations governed by multi- sourced equivalent norms (Please see more on multi-sourced equivalent norms/MSENs below.) In 2007, the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations and the International Law Forum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem established a research project addressing this field. The participants in the study group are Lorand Bartels (Cambridge University), Tomer Broude (Hebrew University), Guy Harpaz (Hebrew University), Moshe Hirsch (Hebrew University), Andre Nollkaemper (University of Amsterdam), Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva), Yuval Shany (Hebrew University) and Isabelle Van Damme (Cambridge University).

AIMS OF THE CONFERENCE: The conference will present the work of the study group and other scholars and practitioners interested in the methodological and theoretical questions associated with the creation and operation of MSENs. TOPICS: Among the topics to be discussed in the conference are: The relations between normative and institutional fragmentation as illustrated by the creation and application of MSENs MSENs and questions of jurisdiction and applicable law before international courts and tribunals Analysis of specific case studies illustrating problems that the application of MSENs may entail The operation of MSENs in specific branches of international law Harmonization of background principles governing MSENs and the need for institutional cooperation Fragmentation, MSENs and 'post-modern anxieties' - evaluation of the discourse on MSENs The focus on MSENs would hopefully enable the conference participants to closely examine the impact of differences background principles (e.g., interpretative principles, responsibility allocating principles, exceptions and defenses) and norm-applying institutions on the fragmentation of international law, and to develop a better understanding of international fragmentation, the problems it creates and the solutions which may or may not be developed to address it.

LOGISTICS: The conference will be held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on 24-25 May, 2009. The papers presented in the conference will be published online as a International Law Forum working papers on http://www.ssrn.com/ and subsequently, (subject to a refereeing process) published in a special law journal symposium or in a collection of essays.

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Respondents to the call for papers are requested to submit a one page proposal + their curriculum vitae to:

CONTACT: Prof. Yuval Shany - email: yshany@mscc.huji.ac.il - by no later than 1 Nov. 2008. The selection committee - comprised of all members of the aforementioned study group - will complete the selection process by 1 Dec. 2008. Successful applicants are expected to deliver their draft papers by 1 May 2009. The conference will incur the travel (economy-class) and accommodation costs of the selected participants.

MSENS: MSENs can be defined as two or more norms which are (1) binding upon the same international legal subjects; (2) similar or identical in their normative content (in the words of the ILC, "point in the same direction"); and (3) have been established through different international instruments or "legislative" procedures or are applicable to different substantive areas of the law. MSENs may be found virtually all fields subject to international regulations, including economic relations (where parallel standards may be created by trade and investment instruments - e.g., the national treatment principle), the protection of human rights and the environment (where parallel standards may be created by regional and global standards - e.g., the ICCPR and the ECHR, UNCLOS and the parallel EC Regulations) and use of force (where parallel standards may be created by treaty and customary law standards - see e.g., Nicaragua).

Acknowledgment: International Economic Law and Policy Blog.