ILA Biennial Conference 2014
The 76th ILA Biennial Conference took place from 7-11 April 2014 in Washington, D.C.
The conference coincided with and was intertwined with the ASIL 108th annual meeting. The theme was ‘The Effectiveness of International Law’. Some 470 ILA-members attended (as well as more than 1000 ASIL-members).
The ILA’s core work (committees on various topics, studying and reporting, and sometimes finalising their work with resolutions) took place in an inspiring and friendly atmosphere.
A number of committees and study groups held open working sessions, all of which were well attended. Reports of these sessions will be included in the final report of the conference, alongside the substantive reports of these committees and study groups.
Four committees finalised their work, which led to the adoption of inter alia the following resolutions at the conference:
- Procedural Principles for Reparation Mechanisms, drawn up by the Committee on Reparation for Victims of Armed Conflict as an essential addition to the Declaration of International Law Principles on Reparation for Victims of Armed Conflict that was adopted at the ILA conference in The Hague in 2010;
- The ILA Declaration on Legal Principles relating to Climate Change of the Committee on Legal Principles relating to Climate;
- The Draft Convention on Immunity from Suit and Seizure for Cultural Objects Temporarily Abroad for Cultural, Educational or Scientific Purposes of the Committee on Cultural Heritage Law; and
- The recommendation of the Committee on International Trade Law that domestic and international dispute settlement bodies in trade law duly respect the ‘consistent interpretation’ and ‘judicial comity’ requirements of national and international legal systems in order to promote the transnational rule of law for the benefit of citizens.
The final reports of these committees will be forwarded to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and other appropriate international and intergovernmental organisations. The first two committees will be dissolved. The last one has requested that, upon its dissolution, a new Committee on International Trade Law be formed with a new mandate.
The Netherlands delegation consisted of some 30 KNVIR members (including four of the five Executive Board members), who were received at the residence of Ambassador Rudolf Bekink, where three judges of the International Court of Justice were the guests of honour.
The 77th ILA conference will take place from 7-11 August 2016 in Johannesburg and promises to be an exciting event in a quickly developing environment.
