The 45th Annual Conference of the Canadian Council on International Law will take place November 3-5, 2016, in Ottawa. The theme is "The Promise of International Law: Solutions for the World’s Crises" The program is here. Here's the idea:In a global climate of accelerating change, there is a need to adapt quickly and implement solutions to address crises.
The term crisis can be applied to a variety of subjects based on social, political, economic, and environmental issues. In fact, it can be applied to almost any international law issue. For example, climate change,genocide, fluctuating oil prices, unstable economies, human migration, disease outbreak, poverty, consumerism/consumption, war, species extinctions, corporate instability, lack of governance, and more.
International law experts constantly have to adapt to stay relevant in this fluctuating world. But one may wonder whether we are moving fast enough with technology? Can treaties and governance helpin situations of constant changes? What about the differing levels of efficacy and enforceability? Is the current international legal system yielding enough solutions to addressnew crises? Most importantly, what are those potential solutions and what is the action-plan to move forward?
The term “crisis”itself raises question. Is it too abrasive? For instance, can the slowing economy and fluctuation of oil prices really be considered a crisis? Perhaps they are just cyclical challenges with solutions just around the corner. Even climate change, is it a crisis already? If not yet at that level, can a crisis on the international legal issues be averted through cooperation and international law? What are the crisis-prevention measures exactly, and what do they look like?
