1. Call for Papers: BIICL-SLS International Law Section Workshop. The British Institute of International & Comparative Law and the International Law section of the Society of Legal Scholars are hosting a one-day hybrid workshop taking place in central London on 26 March 2025 under the title ‘Soft Law in International Law’. The organizers, Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci, Georgia Greville, Dr Saeed Bagheri and Dr Solon Solomon, invite abstracts to be submitted by 16 December 2024 to biicl-sls-workshop {at} biicl(.)org together with a short 150-word bio. Decisions will be communicated by 24 January 2025. More information on the workshop can be found here.
2. Call for Papers: Strasbourg Observers 15th Anniversary Symposium. Founded in April 2010, the Strasbourg Observers Blog is soon celebrating its 15th Anniversary. At this occasion, they are organizing a symposium in Ghent (Belgium) for which they invite abstracts (and panel proposals) that analyse and reflect on important developments in the ECtHR case law and/or scholarship over these past 15 years. They are particularly interested in abstracts that focus on the Court’s ways of reasoning across various thematic areas as well as in abstracts that take a step outside of the Court’s case law and delve into questions about how it operates as an institution. They also welcome abstracts discussing novel approaches and methods (both quantitative and qualitative) in ECtHR scholarship. Abstracts of around 300 words should be sent to strasbourgobservers {at} gmail(.)com by 2 December 2024 with the indivudal’s name, affiliation and a short bio. Submissions for a collection of abstracts as a complete panel proposal should indicate the panel convenor and panel title on top of the information requested for individual abstract submission. Find more information here.
3. Call for Papers: Freedom of the Seas and Freedom of the Individual – An historical Appraisal. This workshop, hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, will take place on 7 February 2025. The deadline for submissions is 20 November 2024. The call invites young scholars to explore various aspects of the relationship between freedom of the seas and individual freedom in a historical perspective, focusing on the XV-XIX centuries. Thematically, they invite participants to deal with aspects relating but not limited to the following topics: Historically, who could benefit from the freedom of the seas? And to what purpose? What consequences did this produce upon the determination of the rights (and the duties) that states and individuals had at sea and over the sea? How does the freedom of the seas reflect the deeply entrenched patterns of domination that characterise much of early international law? To what extent (if any) could it be considered to embody also different values? What legal tools were developed to allow some actors to freely use the seas while limiting the freedom of others? Which actors were most relevant at sea, and how does the private/public divide factor into this? Why were some empires/State powers particularly proactive in attempting to legally defend their arguments? Papers may focus on a specific jurist, geographic area, school of thought, historical period, or may address more transversal aspects across the identified timeframe and regions, and may do so from a variety of approaches. Abstracts of 800-1000 words, addressing the theme and methodology of the proposed paper, and accompanied by an academic CV are to be submitted to al77 {at} soas.ac(.)uk and ip14 {at} soas.ac(.)uk.
4. Call for Papers: European Yearbook on Human Rights. The European Yearbook on Human Rights (EYHR) is inviting submissions for a special issue dedicated to the interconnected legacies of three pivotal moments in European history: The 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. This special issue aims to explore the profound and lasting impact of these foundational documents on the development of human rights, security, and European integration, while also critically examining the current challenges they face. The anniversaries offer a unique opportunity to reflect on the achievements, shortcomings, and future prospects of these cornerstones of the European project and human rights protection in Europe. Authors will be invited to submit full contributions based on an abstract (max 500 words) that should be send by 20 November 2024. Abstracts should be submitted with a short bio to lisa.heschl {at} uni-graz(.)at. The deadline for submitting the full papers is 28 February 2025. For further information or questions, email lisa.heschl {at} uni-graz(.)at.
