Thursday, June 20, 2013

Conference: The Role of Opinio Juris in Customary International Law

On July 12-13, 2013, the Duke University School of Law will host a conference on “The Role of Opinio Juris in Customary International Law,” in Geneva. The program, including links to the short discussion papers prepared by the participants, is here. Here's the idea:
Customary international law covers a wide range of subject areas, including the law of the sea, sovereign immunity, conduct during wartime, extraterritorial jurisdiction, and international human rights. This conference will explore the generally accepted idea that nations must be acting out of a sense of legal obligation (i.e., opinio juris) in order for their practices to generate binding rules of customary international law.