Canadian Council International Law Meeting

The annual CCIL conference in Ottawa is just around the corner.   The program this year is fantastic (as always).  Here is an overview from Prof. Fannie Lafontaine, one of the co-chairs:

From the financial turmoil in Europe and the environmental disasters in Haiti and Japan to the surge for democracy in the Middle East and the resulting civil strife, international relations move from crisis to crisis. The theme of this year’s Canadian Council of International Law (CCIL) Conference, « International Law in Times of Crisis and Emergency », will allow participants to consider the effectiveness of international law as well as its failures in these contexts.  It all begins on Thursday 8 November with a pre-Conference Workshop on ‘Litigation Before International Tribunals’ with six speakers coming from different fields of international law, from trade law to international criminal law. The Conference then begins with a student fair and workshop and the Keynote speech by David Malone, President of the International Development Research Council (IDRC) entitled ‘The United Nations Security Council : Boom or Bust ? », followed by a reception hosted by the Canadian Legal Adviser.

Friday 9 November opens in force with an opening plenary with renowned international law expert Philippe Sands, QC, of University College London. The day presents 15 different panels covering a wide variety of topics within the broad theme of ‘crisis’, from terrorism to the role of international organizations to migration issues to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine to aboriginal issues to the regulation of armed violence to environmental questions to criminal law to food security. And we are not telling you all of it! Friday also offers two thrilling plenary speeches, a first from François Crépeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, on the necessity of reconceptualising migration policies an a second one from Jennifer Hillman of Cassidy Levy Kent, a former WTO Appellate Body Member. The night’s famous banquet held in the strikingly beautiful Grand Hall of the Canadian Museum of Civilization will also present Keynote Speaker D.A. Bellemare, MSM, c.r./QC, Ad.E., former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and former Commissioner, United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC). Saturday 10 November is just as rich and exciting, with 11 panels covering issues as varied as conflict resolution and justice, international arbitration, multinational enterprises, health care in war zones, the rules governing financial crises, development and humanitarian assistance and extraterritorial jurisdiction. Saturday also presents a stimulating plenary panel on the Security Council with David Malone and Rohan Mukherjee from Princeton University

The full program and details for registration are available here.  The Conference Co-chairs are Fannie Lafontaine (Laval University)  and Rodney Neufeld (DFAIT).  CCIL Vice-president (Annual Conference) is Robert Brookfield (DFAIT).