By Dr.Ilze Rūse, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Dear colleagues at the diplomatic missions and members of international organizations in The Hague!
It is my great pleasure to inform you that ESIL (European Society of International Law) this year holds its annual conference on 8-10 September in Riga, Latvia. ESIL is an organization that unites more than 1000 international judges, government officials, diplomats, legal advisers in international organizations, academics and practicing lawyers from 90 countries around the world.
The society was created[1] in 2001 with the aim of bringing together people working in the field of international law to contribute to the rule of law in international relations and to promote the study of public international law. Since its founding meeting in Florence in 2001, where it was agreed to establish a European Society of International Law, the annual conferences have been held in Geneva, Paris, Budapest, Heidelberg, Helsinki, Cambridge, Tallinn, Valencia, Amsterdam, Vienna and Oslo.
This year the ESIL conference takes place in Riga. The conference is organised by Riga Graduate School of Law and Constitutional court of Latvia, in collaboration with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice of Latvia on the initiative of the Member of the Board of ESIL, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and current judge of Constitutional court of Latvia Professor Ineta Ziemele.
Information about the conference and registration can be found on the official website – http://esil.rgsl.lv/en. The ESIL conference this year addresses the issue of “How International Law Works in Times of Crisis” and offers high level speakers, i.e. James Crawford, Judge of the International Court of Justice, Catherine Redgwell, Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford, Jean-Marc Sauve, Vice President of the Council of State of France and many others. ESIL conference also includes a panel of Foreign Ministers.
Combining with your professional interests, this is a great opportunity to visit Latvia and get acquainted with Riga – the Heart of the Baltics and the city where centuries and contrasts meet – a modern European metropolis with a rich cultural and historical heritage. The conference will be hosted at the new National Library building, where Latvia held informal meetings of its first Presidency of the EU Council a year ago.
Please find below further information from the ESIL Secretariat regarding the conference programme and registration. The Embassy of Latvia in the Netherlands stands ready to support you with further necessary information regarding any travel opportunities to Latvia and visitors’ information in Riga (http://www.latvia.travel/en).
Welcome to Latvia!
[1] Those participating in the founding of the Society were: Philip Alston (EUI), Mariano Aznar Gomez (Spain), Andrea Bianchi (Italy), Geneviève Burdeau (France), Antonio Cassese (Italy), Luigi Condorelli (Switzerland), Wladyslaw Czaplinski (Poland), Pierre-Marie Dupuy (France), Bardo Fassbender (Germany), Dieter Fleck (Germany), Andrea Gattini (Italy), Vera-Gowlland-Debbas (Switzerland), Christine Gray (United Kingdom), Vaughan Lowe (United Kingdom), Boldizsár Nagy (Hungary), Hanspeter Neuhold (Austria), Alan Rosas (Finland), Hélène Ruiz Fabri (France), Daniel Thürer (Switzerland), Bruno Simma (Germany), and Joe Verhoeven (Belgium).The group agreed to establish a ESIL based at the European University Institute in Florence.
12th ESIL Annual Conference, Riga, 8 – 10 September 2016:
How International Law Works in Times of Crisis The programme is now online.
An exciting conference programme has been planned, with more than 90 speakers, and with more than 36 nationalities represented among the chairs and speakers in the various agorae and fora. If you plan to attend the conference, please register as soon as possible.
Among the highlights of the conference are the panel of the Foreign Affairs Ministers, hosted by Mr. E. Rinkēvičs, the Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister, and a keynote speech by Jean-Marc Sauvé, Vice-President of the French Council of State.
These panels, as well as the Opening Discussion and eight fora and twelve agorae, will explore the theme of crisis from its different perspectives in international law. In addition, the following parts of the programme may be of interest:
- Wednesday 7 September, starting from 11:00 Ten ESIL Interest Groups have organised events. The conference programme lists all the groups and the venues where they will be meeting. Over the years, these pre-conference events have become a very important activities and all members are invited to attend any of the IG events.
- Thursday 8 September, 13:00 – 14:30 : ‘Meet the Jurist’ This is a new initiative of the ESIL Board, which was organized for the first time at the 2015 ESIL Conference in Oslo. Mentors hold 10-minute conversations with a succession of early-career professionals and academics, offering advice and sharing their experience. The purpose of the event is to give younger members of ESIL the opportunity to meet and hold short discussions with more experienced colleagues.
- Thursday 8 September, 18:00 – 19:00: Conversation with the ESIL Book Prize Winner The winner of the 2016 ESIL Book Prize will be invited to hold a conversation about the prize-winning book.
- Friday 9 September, 12:30 – 14:00: Lunch Meeting of International Law Journals Editors Any ESIL members who are editors of international law journals are invited to contact the ESIL Secretariat if they wish to be invited to the lunch meeting.
- Friday 9 September, 16:00 – 17:30: ESIL General Assembly The agenda of the annual General Assembly will be sent to all members shortly. ESIL Secretariat European Society of International Law Academy of European Law
European University Institute, Italy e-mail: esil.secretariat@eui.eu ; http://www.esil-sedi.eu
