Call for Papers: European Society of International Law; The 2019 ESIL Research Forum

The 2019 ESIL Research Forum will be held at the Institute for International Law and European Law, Göttingen, on 4 -5 April 2019.  In addition, all ESIL Interest Groups will be invited to arrange events the day before the Forum, on 3 April.

The Research Forum addresses the topic: “The International Rule of Law and Domestic Dimensions: Synergies and Challenges”.

The contemporary international legal order contains a number of elements which might be seen as representing an ‘international rule of law’. For decades, the constant progress of the international rule of law has been taken for granted, supported by an apparently mutual reinforcement between the rule of law at the domestic and international levels. However, the recent backlash against international law, as well as current domestic developments, put the rule of law to the test at both levels. It prompts us to revisit and perhaps reconsider the concept and its relevance.

The deadline for submissions is 30 September 2018.
The Call for Papers follows. 
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2019 ESIL Research Forum, Göttingen4 - 5 April 2019

Call for Papers

“The rule of law in international and domestic contexts: synergies and challenges”

The 2019 ESIL Research Forum will take place on Thursday, 4 and Friday, 5 April 2019 at the Institute for International Law and European Law, Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen, Germany. 

ESIL Interest Group events may be organized on Wednesday, 3 April 2019. 

The ESIL Research Forum is a scholarly conference that promotes engagement with research in progress by members of the Society. It has a small and intensive format. The Forum targets scholars at an early stage of their careers. Approximately 15-25 paper submissions will be selected. The selected speakers will receive comments on their paper presentations from members of the ESIL Board and invited experts during the Forum.

The 2019 Research Forum addresses the topic:

“The rule of law in international and domestic contexts: synergies and challenges”. 

The contemporary international legal order contains a number of elements which might be seen as representing an ‘international rule of law’ in a broader or ‘thick’ understanding of the term. This value loaded understanding draws on established constitutional concepts to contain sovereign power at the international level. For decades, the constant progress of the international rule of law has been taken for granted, supported by an apparently mutual reinforcement between the rule of law at the domestic and international levels. However, the recent backlash against international law, as well as current domestic developments, put the rule of law to the test at both levels. It prompts us to revisit and perhaps reconsider the concept and its relevance.

A central task is to determine whether we can (still) speak of a rule of law at the international level, and if so, in which terms. And there is more: given the international rule of law’s domestic pedigree and the close interlinkage between the international and national readings of this concept, challenges and changes to the international rule of law will likely oscillate back to the domestic level. In addition, the challenges posed to the rule of law at the domestic level might have an impact at the international level. 

If and how these international developments influence the constitutional framework of states and vice versa, and if such influence is reinforcing or adverse in character, are questions of the utmost importance.
The 2019 ESIL Research Forum invites the submission of papers addressing related issues along the following lines:

1. Roots, boundaries and interactions: conceptualizing the rule of law at international and domestic levels
   
2. Commitments, achievements and blind spots? - The rule of law and the United Nations
   
3. The rule of law in international and regional courts and tribunals: impacts, shortcomings and a “mission educatrice”?
   
4. The rule of law and development (developing countries): multilateral and bilateral cooperation and persuasion
   
5. The European Union and the rule of law
   
6. The significance of the rule of law for global public goods, global commons and fundamental values
   
7. The rule of law in times of populism, nationalism and power politics
   

Abstracts (of not more than 750 words) should be submitted to 2019esil_rf_goettingen@gwdg.de by Sunday, 30 September 2018.

Please include the following information with your abstract: your name, affiliation, email address, whether you are an ESIL member, plus a one-page curriculum vitae. Successful applicants will be notified by email by 2 November 2018. Complete paper drafts will be required by Friday, 15 February 2019. Papers may in due course be published in the ESIL SSRN Conference Paper Series. 

All those who take part in the Forum are expected to be ESIL members at the time of their participation.
Selected speakers will be expected to bear the costs of their own travel and accommodation. Some ESIL travel grants will be available to offer partial financial support to speakers who have exhausted other potential sources of funding. Further information on financial support will be distributed to speakers in due course.

Speakers will also be informed of several hotels that offer preferential rates to Research Forum participants. Lunch on both days will be provided, and a dinner for presenters, commentators and ESIL Board members will be hosted on the evening of Thursday, 4 April 2019.