Domestic Contestations against International Courts and Tribunals
Side-event to the ESIL 2019 Annual Conference, Athens
September 12, 2019.
Theme of the workshop
It was in 2006 that Anne-Marie Slaughter and William Burke-White published their article entitled ‘The Future of International Law Is Domestic’ in the Harvard International Law Journal. They argued that the future of international law would lie in its ability to guide and direct domestic actors to act in prescribed ways. More than a decade later, the article’s general contention seems to hold true. In a range of regulatory fields such as human rights, crimes, investment, public health, and environmental conservation, international law prescribes rules governing, not necessarily state-to-state relations, but those at the domestic level.
The future that Slaughter and Burke-White depicted then placed international courts and tribunals and treaty-monitoring bodies in a position to review the government’s exercise of authority over individuals and corporations with regard to the matters which are primarily governed by domestic (public) law. This also means that the effectiveness of the decisions of international courts and tribunals often relies on the government’s willingness to change its domestic law and practices. At times, however, the decisions of international courts and tribunals have given rise to normative conflicts with a country’s constitutional law or other national legal principles and rules. To give effect to international judicial decisions may also be seen undemocratic.
Against this background, the Interest Group invites paper proposals regarding the domestic reception of the decisions of international courts and tribunals. The Interest Group particularly welcomes proposals that address a range of normative bases and legal techniques, on the basis of which international judicial decisions have been avoided or contested by legislative, executive, and/or judicial bodies. On top of international courts and tribunals, the Interest Group also welcomes proposals concerning the critical domestic reception of the decisions of treaty-monitoring bodies.
Submission of proposals and the timeline
All Members of the Interest Group are invited to submit abstracts of up to 500 words.
Deadline for submitting abstracts: April 15, 2019.
Abstracts should be sent to esil.igict@mpi.lu
The following information must be provided with each abstract:
Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by May 1, 2019.
- The author’s name and affiliation
- The author’s CV, including a list of relevant publications
- The author’s contact details, including email address
Authors of accepted abstracts should submit their draft papers by August 15, 2019. The draft will be circulated among the workshop participants. For substantive questions, please contact the Interest Group convenors: Edouard Fromageau (edouard.fromageau@mpi.lu); Andrea Gattini (andrea.gattini@unipd.it); Machiko Kanetake (m.kanetake@uu.nl); and Stephan Wittich (stephan.wittich@univie.ac.at).
We are looking forward to receiving your abstracts.
Please note that the Interest Group is unable to provide funding for travel and accommodation. See the ESIL website for information about travel grants and carers’ grants offered to ESIL members, and other relevant information about the conference.
Selected speakers are strongly encouraged to become members of the Society and to register for the Annual Conference; please note, however, that the Society is unable to offer reduced conference registration fees to speakers at pre-conference events (please do not register as agora speakers).
Selected speakers can indicate their interest in being considered for the ESIL Young Scholar Prize, if they meet the eligibility conditions as stated on the ESIL website. The ESIL Secretariat must be informed of all speakers who wish to be considered for the Prize by 15 May at the very latest.
