Monday, July 14, 2008

Call for Papers: Unity or Fragmentation of International Law: The Role of International and National Tribunals

The International Tribunals Project at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, and the International Law in Domestic Courts Project at the Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, have issued a call for papers for the Second International Law in Domestic Courts Colloquium. The colloquium's theme is "Unity or Fragmentation of International Law: The Role of International and National Tribunals," and it will be held May 14-15, 2009, in Oslo. Here's the introduction to the call (the full concept paper is here):

In recent decades there has been a considerable growth in the number of international tribunals, such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization. At the regional level we have the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights. Furthermore, supervisory bodies have been established to control implementation of treaty obligations. These may take the form of ‘quasi-judicial’ bodies such as in the field of human rights or organs under political control as in international environmental law (‘non-compliance procedures’). In addition to international tribunals, there has been a significant increase in the application of international law in domestic courts.

This Conference will focus on the contribution that these tribunals and courts have made to the unity or fragmentation of international law. In particular, it will focus on aspects of this theme:

  • Methods of interpretation by international tribunals
  • Jurisdictional overlaps between international tribunals and compliance mechanisms
  • Dialogue or conflict between international tribunals and national courts
  • Interpretation and application of international law in national courts.

[The call for papers] invites empirically based research papers to be presented and discussed as a basis for drawing general comparisons and conclusions on the role of international tribunals and domestic courts in the process of fragmentation and de-fragmentation (unity) of international law.

Submission deadlines:

abstracts: 1 October 2008

accepted papers: 1 February 2009

There is no fixed word limit for abstracts. However, we prefer texts delimited to that minimum which constitutes adequate grounds for evaluation.

Papers and abstracts may be submitted by e-mail to: oslo-conf09@jus.uio.no

If you are unable to submit electronically, submissions may be sent by mail to:

Ole Kristian Fauchald

University of Oslo

Department of Public and International Law

P.O. Box 6706

St Olavs Plass N-0130

Oslo Norway

For information please contact Geir Ulfstein (geir.ulfstein@jus.uio.no) or Ole Kristian Fauchald (o.k.fauchald@jus.uio.no), University of Oslo.