Symposium: Regime Interactions in Public International Law

On June 17-18, 2013, the University of Edinburgh International Law Discussion Group will host its biennial doctoral symposium. The theme is "Regime Interactions in Public International Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Today, the decentralized character of international law, together with the notion of functional specialization of its institutions, has resulted in the multiplication of specialized regimes governing almost all vital fields. This happens, for example, in trade law, law of the sea, human rights law, environmental law, humanitarian law, criminal law, etc. Regime Interactions take place both horizontally, between regimes with distinct but overlapping objectives, as well as vertically, between global and regional regimes dealing with the same subject.

The issue of regime interactions has raised much debate in the academic community under different theoretical perspectives (e.g. M. Young (ed.), Regime Interactions, Cambridge University Press, 2011).The interconnections between regimes have the potential to affect the rights and obligation of states involved, creating legal uncertainty in international law if not properly addressed. The complexity of the legal framework can also undermine the effectiveness of regimes in achieving their goals. As an understanding of how regimes interact on the fragmented international plane holds a key to a more complete perspective of contemporary international law, the purpose of this symposium is to make a further contribution to understanding the role of regimes and their interactions in the international legal system.