St. John’s Center for International and Comparative Law Inaugural Symposium

Tomorrow, the Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL) of St. John’s University School of Law will have its inaugural symposium. Peggy and I are CICL’s Co-Directors, and we are looking forward to what we hope will be a great kick-off.

The symposium, entitled Challenges to International Law, Challenges from International Law: New Realities and the Global Order, is co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law and the St. John’s Journal of International and Comparative Law (the Center’s new online journal). Presenters will include  Michael Mattler, the Minority Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; Joseph Cassidy, the Director of Multilateral and Global Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Ruth Wedgwood of SAIS, Opinio Juris co-blogger Roger Alford (which reminds me… ) and many other great speakers.

The keynote will be delivered by Donald Donovan of Debevoise & Plimpton. Donald, who is the President-elect of the ASIL, will also be joined by David Caron, the current President of the ASIL, and Peter Trooboff, a past President of the ASIL in a closing roundtable with Mattler on the question of American exceptionalism and the future of international law.

Challenges to International Law, Challenges from International Law: New Realities and the Global Order

Friday, April 1, 2011

St. John’s School of Law
Belson Moot Court Room | Second Floor
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, NY

This symposium brings together leading academics, practitioners and past and present government officials to examine current challenges facing international law through the lens of three areas of regulation—the use of force, human rights and economic relations. Participants will also explore the United States’ role in international law-making and enforcement.

Agenda

9:15-10:45 a.m.
Panel I: “How should the international economy be regulated? Who should do it?”

Moderator: Mark Movsesian, St. John’s School of Law

Roger Alford, Pepperdine University School of Law
Raj Bhala, The University of Kansas School of Law
Eric Pan, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Christopher Whytock, University of California, Irvine School of Law

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Panel II: “How should human rights be protected? Who should protect them?”

Moderator: Margaret McGuinness, St. John’s School of Law

Elena Baylis, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Joseph Cassidy, United States State Department
Martin Flaherty, Fordham University School of Law
Ruth Wedgwood, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

1-2 p.m.
Keynote Address
Donald Francis Donovan
Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m.
Panel III: “How should the use of force be regulated? Who should do it?”

Moderator: Christopher Borgen, St. John’s School of Law

Kristen Boon, Seton Hall University School of Law
John Dehn, United States Military Academy
Jennifer Trahan, New York University
Jeffrey Walker, Georgetown University

4 p.m.-5:30pm
Roundtable Discussion: “Is America Exceptional in the International Order? Should it be?”

Moderator: Donald Francis Donovan, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

David D. Caron, University of California, Berkeley
Michael Mattler, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Peter Trooboff, Covington & Burling LLP

Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
The full-day Symposium qualifies for six (6) non-transitional CLE credit hours. The CLE fee is $150.

For more information, please contact:
Van McPherson III
Symposium Editor
Journal of International and Comparative Law
van.mcphersoniii08@stjohns.edu