The European Society of International Law (ESIL), whose Secretariat is based at the EUI, is a dynamic network of researchers, scholars and practitioners in the field of international law. The Society’s goals are to encourage the study of international law, to foster inquiry, discussion and innovation in international law, and to promote a greater understanding of the role of international law in the world today. EUI Law Professor Neha Jain is the ESIL Board Member who acts as liaison between the EUI and ESIL.
The 16th ESIL Annual Conference took place in Stockholm from 9 to 11 September 2021. Under the overall theme ‘Changes in International Lawmaking: Actors, Processes, Impact’, the hybrid event examined changes in international lawmaking and how these changes are impacted by and impact on national and private norms and processes, and how they eventually affect the daily lives of people.
The Annual Conference featured several members of the EUI community. Professor of Public International Law at the EUI, Sarah Nouwen, participated in a fascinating keynote conversation: ‘’The Politics of Global Lawmaking'' together with Professor Martii Koskenniemi.
François Delerue, who obtained his PhD in the EUI Department of Law in 2016, was awarded the 2021 ESIL Book Prize for his book Cyber Operations and International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2020). He received the award during the conference dinner at the Vasa Museum and participated in a special session of the conference dedicated to the discussion of the book.
The 16th ESIL Annual Conference was the first hybrid ESIL conference and saw the enthusiastic participation of around 500 international legal scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners from all over the world. The wide range of speakers and topics included twenty different panels on changes in international lawmaking, pre-conference ESIL Interest Group workshops, a welcome address by Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, a mentoring session for early career scholars, and a session on international law publishing with editors of major international law journals.
In her concluding remarks, Professor Veronika Bilkova, the former Secretary General and now Vice-President of ESIL, affirmed the strong relationship between the ESIL and the EUI: "This event would never be possible without the work of the fantastic ESIL Secretariat composed of Hélène Debuire Franchini and Maria Grazia Dusina, based at the Academy of European Law at the European University Institute in Florence, and the incredibly efficient support of Prof. Neha Jain. We are very grateful for the continued fruitful cooperation between ESIL and the EUI’’.
Future ESIL annual conferences will be held in Utrecht (2022) and Aix-en-Provence (2023).
The call for papers for the annual conference in Utrecht will be available in October.
Further information can be found on the ESIL website.