Call for Papers: ILA British Branch Annual Spring Conference

The International Law Association British Branch has issued a call for papers for its annual spring conference, which will be hosted by the University of Nottingham School of Law, on April 20-21, 2012. A pre-conference workshop for first and second year MPhil/PhD students will be held during the afternoon of April 19. The conference theme is "Security and International Law." Here's the call:

International Law Association (ILA) British Branch
Annual Spring Conference
20-21 April 2012
“Security and International Law”

Call for Papers

The 2012 Spring Conference of the British Branch of the International Law Association will be hosted by the University of Nottingham School of Law, on Friday, 20 and Saturday, 21 April 2012 at the University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham.

The Conference theme ‘Security and International Law’ encompasses human, political, military, socio-economic, environmental and energy security. It may also include security issues arising from the operation of international law in territorial and extraterritorial spaces, such as the high seas, aerospace, or the Internet. The Conference theme aims to address the following questions: To what extent can international law address the types of natural and man-made security risks and challenges that threaten our livelihood, or very existence, in the 21st Century? Where does international fall short in meeting the problems that arise in different situations of insecurity and how should such shortcomings be addressed?

Programme Committee: Professor Mary Footer (Chair), Professor Nigel White, Professor Dino Kritsiotis, Mr Sandesh Sivakumaran, Mr Michael Bowman, Dr Marko Milanovic, Dr Edward Goodwin, Ms Sangeeta Shah and Professor Robert McCorquodale.

A pre-Conference workshop for first and second year MPhil/PhD students, will be held during the afternoon of Thursday, 19 April 2012 (please see below for further details).

Call for Papers

A. All colleagues (both ILA and non-ILA Members) wishing to present a paper must submit an abstract (350-600 words), identifying the main thesis and issues to be addressed in their papers. It should be sent to mary.footer@nottingham.ac.uk by 31 January 2012. Younger colleagues (aged 35 years and under in academic year 2011-2012) and final year PhD students are actively encouraged to submit an abstract.

B. A submitted abstract must fall within one of the following themes. The relevant theme must be identified directly underneath the title of the abstract:

• international peace and security, including national security
• security and protection against international crime and terrorism
• human security, in areas such as (but not limited to) food, health and detention
• environmental security, including issues arising from the depletion of natural resources and climate change
• security in crisis situations, including humanitarian and natural disasters
• security of utilities and infrastructures, including such areas as information technology, transport, energy and the financial system
• border(less) security, including protection of land and maritime borders, aerospace and cyberspace

Colleagues will be notified whether their abstract has been accepted for presentation as a paper by Friday, 17 February 2012. Presentations at the Conference will be strictly limited to 15 minutes in duration.

Colleagues selected will be expected to submit either a full or an outline paper, on which their presentation is based, by Thursday, 5 April 2012 (papers received by this date will be available for participants to access via a secure web-site).

All colleagues who wish to attend the Conference, whether accepted to give a paper or not, must confirm their attendance by Wednesday, 11 April 2012 by registering on-line. On-line registration will open in January 2012 (further details about the venue, registration fees, conference dinner, accommodation, travel and so on, will be made available at that time). Please note that due to the high number of colleagues who we expect to be making presentations, there will unfortunately be no reduced fee for speakers.

All enquires arising from this Call for Papers should be directed in first instance to:

Professor Mary Footer, University of Nottingham School of Law: mary.footer@nottingham.ac.uk or tel: +44(0)115 951 5727.

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Pre-Conference MPhil/PhD Workshop

The School of Law will be hosting a half-day workshop during the afternoon of Thursday, 19 April 2012, immediately prior to the ILA Spring Conference. The focus of the Workshop will be on research methods in the fields of public and private international law. The Workshop, to be held at the University of Nottingham School of Law on the Main Campus, will be for a maximum of 25 MPhil/PhD students in their first or second year of study. The Workshop is open to all students undertaking MPhil/PhD research on any aspect of public and/or private international law, who are prepared to discuss their methodologies in the context of their own research with fellow participants and established academics in the field of international law.

The Workshop will consist of a plenary session, followed by shorter, round table sessions, which will provide students with the opportunity to make short presentations of their work-to-date and to discuss their research methodologies, with active participation from discussants.

There is no fee for the Workshop. Individual students will be required to fund their own travel and accommodation. Refreshments will be provided by the School of Law during the course of the afternoon. Students attending the Workshop will also be able to take advantage of a reduced fee for the ILA Conference itself.

Please indicate your interest in attending the Workshop by sending an e-mail to Ms Helen Wade at Helen.Wade@nottingham.ac.uk, including both a brief outline of your MPhil/PhD proposal and a short c.v. The closing date for expressions of interest is Wednesday, 1 February 2012. Successful applications will be notified by Wednesday, 22 February 2012. Selection of Workshop participants will take place based on the following considerations: appropriate coverage of topics in the field of public and/or private international law, theoretical approaches and years of research.

Further details concerning suitable accommodation, if required, and other details concerning the Workshop, will be sent to successful applicants.