Tag Archive for: SM

SPRING MEETING
OF THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

FINDING BALANCE: LESSONS FROM COURTROOM BATTLES ON INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE LAW

WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2024 19.30 – 21.00
HUMANITY HUB, FLUWELEN BURGWAL 58, THE HAGUE AND ONLINE

In 2024, a significant shift occurred in the global climate regime. Struggling to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, states across the world found themselves in a new dynamic. Courts, originally not envisioned as key players in interpreting and applying international climate law, took centre stage. This was marked by a landmark judgment from the European Court of Human Rights, and (forthcoming) Advisory Opinions from the Law of the Sea Tribunal, the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In over 50 states, individuals, civil society groups, and corporate actors have initiated judicial proceedings to challenge governmental and corporate climate policies, often expressly relying on international climate law.

Both international and national courts play a crucial role in clarifying states’ international obligations and responsibilities. However, they must navigate the intricate landscapes of global and national politics and grapple with the inherent limitations of their role in complex societal trade-offs in climate transitions and the search for climate justice.

This presentation will discuss the lessons that we can draw from international and national caselaw so far. It will evaluate how courts have contributed to developing and implementing international climate law and provide perspectives on how they attempt to balance competing interests in this complex global arena.

Prof. André Nollkaemper, University Professor of International Law and Sustainability, University of Amsterdam, will provide a presentation, followed by a Q&A and drinks.

Registration: Please send an email to gro.r1733752869ivnk@1733752869tcatn1733752869oc1733752869 by Monday 17 June 2024 indicating whether you would like to attend the meeting in person or online.

SPRING MEETING
OF THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

THE ROLE OF THE UN IN THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE: ATTEMPTS TO BYPASS THE UN CHARTER IN THE SPIRIT OF THE CHARTER ITSELF?

7 JUNE 2023 19.00 – 21.00
LEIDEN UNIVERSITY, CAMPUS THE HAGUE AND ONLINE

While the UN provides refugee protection and humanitarian aid in Ukraine and is actively involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, its role in the domain of peace and security is limited: examples include speeches by the UN Secretary-General and the February 2023 General Assembly resolution demanding that the Russian Federation withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, in line with the UN Charter.

However, GA resolutions lack ‘bite’. The impossibility for the Security Council to act in this conflict has, again, raised the question as to what role the GA and other UN organs can still play. Various initiatives have been taken, such as the GA’s emergency special session and the adoption of GA Res. 76/262 (‘Standing mandate for a GA debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council’). Are these examples of ‘bypassing the UN Charter in the spirit of the Charter itself’, knowing that formal changes of the Charter are not a realistic perspective? Or does the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the use of its veto in the Security Council bring new stimuli to the long-standing negotiations about Security Council Reform?

Dr. Alanna O’Malley, Associate Professor at the Leiden University Institute for History, and
Prof. Niels Blokker, Professor of International Institutional Law at Leiden University,
will provide a presentation. This will be followed by a Q&A.

Date and time: Wednesday 7 June 2023, from 19.00-21.00

Location: Leiden University, Campus The Hague, Turfmarkt 99, 2511 DP The Hague, or online via Zoom

Registration: Please send an email to gro.r1733752869ivnk@1733752869tcatn1733752869oc1733752869 by 2 June 2023 indicating whether you would like to attend the meeting in person or online via Zoom.

For questions, please contact the Secretary via gro.r1733752869ivnk@1733752869draob1733752869.

SPRING MEETING
OF THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

SANCTIONS AS THE GO-TO-TOOL:
DO THEY WORK AND WHAT ROLE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW?

24 MAY 2022 16.00 – 18.00
IN THE HUMANITY HUB, THE HAGUE, AND ONLINE

Already before the Russian aggression against Ukraine the stalemate in the UN Security Council increasingly led to a wave of unilateral sanctions. Economic sanctions may seem to have become the instrument of choice to deal with international crises, but the role of the UN Security Council has diminished.

Prof. Peter van Bergeijk (Erasmus University) and Prof. Larissa van den Herik (Leiden University) put the expanding sanctions practice into the perspectives of international relations and international law.

Do sanctions work at all? What drives their success and failure? Why is coordination of sanctions so difficult? Should international law have a more prominent role in governing sanctions?

Importantly, although targeted sanctions remain very present on the sanctions’ menu, there is again a trend towards the recomprehensivation of sanctions, a return to the more comprehensive sanctions of before. What is the future of the sanction instrument?

The speakers will each give a presentation of 20 minutes, followed by the opportunity to ask questions and a discussion.

Date and time: Tuesday 24 May 2022, from 16.00-18.00

Location: The Humanity Hub, Fluwelen Burgwal 58, 2511 CJ, The Hague, or online via Zoom

Registration: Please send an email to gro.r1733752869ivnk@1733752869tcatn1733752869oc1733752869 by 19 May 2022 indicating whether you would like to attend the meeting in person or online. If you are attending via Zoom, the link will be sent to the email you use for registration, unless you indicate otherwise.

For questions, please contact the Secretary via gro.r1733752869ivnk@1733752869draob1733752869.