ESIL 2024

Technological Change and International Law

19th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law

5-6 September 2024

Vilnius, Lithuania

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ABOUT

ESIL Conference

The ESIL Annual Conference is the flagship event of the European Society of International Law (ESIL), bringing together scholars, practitioners, and students from around the world to discuss and debate the most pressing issues at the intersection of international law and global affairs.

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WHEN

Thursday to Friday, 5-6 September 2024. 

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WHERE

Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Konstitucijos av. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania

See you in Vilnius!

THEME

Technological Change and International Law

In the era of rapid technological advancements, the impact of technology on international law has become increasingly significant. The ESIL Annual Conference 2024 will provide a platform to explore the multifaceted relationship between technological change and international law. From cybersecurity and data protection to artificial intelligence and the regulation of emerging technologies, this conference will delve into the legal implications and challenges posed by the digital age.

Technological development keeps advancing across a range of international law fields.

“Traditional concept of state‘s jurisdiction, privacy, human rights, rules of warfare, investigation of international crimes are just few fields of international law that have to deal with digital revolution. Moreover, the intersection of digital technologies and international law poses disturbing challenges to international governance and protection of democratic principles. Therefore, only clear understanding how international law is able and should respond to this new reality can lead us to considering the use of digital technologies as a legitimate way to improve broad areas of international law.”

Ewelina Dobrowolska

Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania

SAVE THE DATES!

important dates

Abstract submission deadline: 31 January 2024.
Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2024.
Full paper submission deadline: 1 July 2024.
Conference dates: 5-6 September 2024.
Final paper submission deadline: 1 November 2024.
Early bird registration deadline: 1 June 2024.

MEET

The organizers

EXPLORE THE CONTENT!

PROGRAMME

  • 08:30 -19:00 Lobby near rooms Zeta 1 / Zeta 2
  • Registration & Hospitality Desk

  • 09:00-12:00
  • ESIL Interest Group Pre-conference Workshops

    • Interest Group on International Organizations (Omega room)
    • Interest Group on the Law of the Sea (Zeta 2 room)
    • Interest Group on Feminism and International Law (Iota room)
    • Interest Group on International Human Rights Law (Theta room)
    • Interest Group on the International Law of Culture (Tau room)
    • Interest Group on International Courts and Tribunals (Zeta 1 room)

    See the ESIL website for more information on the workshops and their programmes.

  • 12:00-13:00 Lobby near rooms Zeta 1 / Zeta 2
  • Lunch

  • 12:30-15:30
  • ESIL Interest Group Pre-conference Workshops

    • Interest Group on Rule of Law & Interest Group on International Environmental Law (Zeta 1 room)
    • Interest Group on Social Sciences and International Law (Omega room)
    • Interest Group on Energy and International Law (Tau room)
    • Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law (Iota room)
    • Interest Group on International Economic Law (Zeta 2 room)
    • Interest Group on International Law and Technology (Theta room)

    See the ESIL website for more information on the workshops and their programmes.

  • 15:30-15:45 Lobby near rooms Zeta 1 / Zeta 2
  • Coffee & Tea

  • 15:45-18:45
  • ESIL Interest Group Pre-conference Workshops

    • Interest Group on Rule of Law & Interest Group on International Environmental Law (Zeta 1 room)
    • Interest Group on Business and Human Rights (Iota room)
    • Interest Group on “The EU as a Global Actor” (Omega room)
    • Interest Group on Peace and Security (Theta room)
    • Interest Group on History of International Law (Tau room)
    • Interest Group on International Criminal Justice (Zeta 2 room)

    See the ESIL website for more information on the workshops and their programmes.

  • 19:30-21:00 Vilnius University, Auditorium Aula Parva
  • The ESIL 20th Anniversary Celebration with Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas, the rector of Vilnius University

  • 08:00-19:00 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Registration & Hospitality Desk

  • 09:00-09:30 ALFA ROOM
  • Welcome and Introduction

    Gleider Hernández, the President of ESIL @Catholic University of Leuven University
    Inga Černiuk, Chancellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
    Haroldas Šinkūnas, the Dean of the Law faculty of Vilnius University

  • 09:30-10:40 ALFA ROOM
  • Keynote and Opening discussion "Technology and Regulatory Regionalism: Europe as Centre or Periphery?"

    KEYNOTE: Simon Chesterman @National University of Singapore
    The Tragedy of AI Governance
    Alfa room 

    Chair: Jekaterina Govina @Vilnius Tech University
    Discussant: Roxana Vatanparast @Capital University Law School

  • 10:40-11:00 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Coffee & Tea Break Sponsored by Glimstedt

  • 11:00-12:30 ALFA ROOM
  • FORUM 1.
    Race as Technology / Technologies of Racialisation in International Law
    Alfa room 

    Chair:  Kebene Wodajo @ETH Zurich

    • Essentialism in International Law and Technology
      Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi @SciencesPo
    • Borders as Technologies of Racial Production and Racial Technologies of Bordering 
      Amin Parsa @Halmstad University
    • Implementing a Digital Rule of Law. Epistemic Reflections on Development Practice
      Siddharth Peter
      de Souza @Tilburg University
  • 11:00-12:30 BETA ROOM
  • FORUM 2.
    Do We Need a New Theory of (Human) Rights Adapted to Governance by Data?

    Beta room

    Chair: Veronika Bilkova @the Institute of International Relations

    • The Challenge of Justifying, Interpreting and Applying Digital Rights as Human Rights
      Yuval Shany @Hebrew/KCL
    • Introducing the Non-coherence Theory of Digital Human Rights
      Mart Susi @Tallinn University 
    • Anticipatory Human Rights Obligations and Data Governance
      Rumiana Yotova @Cambridge University
  • 12:30-13:30 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Lunch

  • 13:30-15:00 ALFA ROOM
  • AGORA 1.
    International Markets, Money and Labor in Times of Technological Change
    Alfa room 

    Chair: John Haskell @University of Manchester

    • Recoding Values: Cryptostatecraft and Experiments in Future Governance
      Andrea Leiter @University of Amsterdam 
    • Regulatory Interoperability In The Global Digital Economy: Charting Pathways In International Law
      Neha Mishra @Geneva Graduate Institute
    • Evaluating the Future of Crypto Assets under WTO Law: a Case Study of the EU’s MiCA Regulation
      Ines Willemyns @Stanford University

     

  • 13:30-15:00 BETA ROOM
  • AGORA 2.
    Digital Platforms and the Public Sphere – International Law and Democratic Disruption
    Beta room 

    Chair: Stefania Di Stefano @IHEID

    • Conceptualizing and Contextualizing Disinformation in International Law
      Anna Maria Smulders @Leiden University
    • Between a Rock And a Hard Place: the EU’s Digital Services Act and its Implications for Freedom 0f Expression
      Karen De Vos @KU Leuven
    • Content Governance Beyond Platforms: The Power and Human Rights Obligations of Infrastructural Service Providers 
      Erik Tuchtfeld @Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law  
  • 13:30-15:00 ZETA 1 ROOM
  • AGORA 3.
    International Law, Technology and the Posthuman / More-than-human
    Zeta 1 room

    Chair:  Emily Jones @University of Essex

    • The More-Than-Human Data Shadow: Posthuman International Law, Postwar Data History and Artificial Intelligence
      Matilda Arvidsson @Gothenburg University
    • Ghost Fleets, Posthuman Feminisms, Deterrence and Maritime Security
      Gina Heathcote @University of Newcastle
    • Beyond natural and (im)material. Interpreting the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture from Legal, Post-human, and Relational Perspectives
      Pierre Walckiers
      @UCLouvain
  • 13:30-15:00 ZETA 2 ROOM
  • AGORA 4.
    Technologies of Security and Surveillance
    Zeta 2 room

    Chair:  Delphine Dogot @Université Catholique de Lille

    • EU Sanctions as Surveillance? A Socio-legal Study of Norwegian Hobby Drone Prosecutions 2022-2024
      Kristin Bergtora Sandvik @University of Oslo
    • Workplace Brain Surveillance. The Need for a New Approach to Protect Mental Privacy and Neural Data?
      Nora Hertz@University of Freiburg
    • Cyber Shields for Global Guardians: Protecting International Organizations from Cyber Harm
      Isabella E. Brunner @Leiden University
  • 15:00-15:30 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Coffee & Tea

  • 15:30-17:00 ALFA ROOM
  • AGORA 5.
    Forensic Activism – New Technologies in Human Rights, Migration and Criminal Justice
    Alfa room

    Chair: Dimitri Van Den Meerssche @Queen Mary University

    • Documenting Human Rights Atrocities for Eternity? – On the Contingency for a Joint Comprehensive Archives for Prosecuting International Crimes
      Kaja Kowalczewska @University of Wrocław and Raphael Oidtmann @University of Mannheim
    • The Rights and Wrongs of Mass Grave Mapping
      Ellie Smith and Melanie Klinkner@Bournemouth University
    • Fairness, Probity and Digital Evidence: Establishing a Framework for Digital Forensic Experts
      Matthew Gillett
      @University of Essex
  • 15:30-17:00 BETA ROOM
  • AGORA 6.
    Environment, Ecological Disasters and Technology in International Legal Context
    Beta room

    Chair: Marie Petersmann @LSE

    • AI Predictive Modelling and Digital Twins: Tools to Transform the International Forest Regime?
      Feja Lesniewska @University of Surrey
    • The (Mis)Use of AI in Environmental Impact Assessments for Potential Exploitation of Deep-Sea Mineral Resources in the Area: The Need for Regulatory Recalibration
      Debolina Bhatt @IHEID
    • At the Intersection of Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence, and Human Rights Law: Towards a Solidarity-Based Approach
      Barrie Sander
      @Leiden University
  • 15:30-17:00 ZETA 1 ROOM
  • AGORA 7.
    Oceans / Outer Space – Sensing, Constructing, Commodifying Global Commons
    Zeta 1 room

    Chair: Lauri Mälksoo @Tartu University

    • Sovereignty Implications of Mega-Constellations in the Low Earth Orbit
      Berna Akcali Gur @Queen Mary University and Joanna Kulesza @University of Lodz
    • Legal Privileges and Empirical Dangers of Research in the Global Commons
      Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark @Åbo Akademi University
    • The De-Territorialization of the Land and the Territorialization of the Sea: a Study of the International Legal Implications arising from the “Technological Paradox”
      Daniele Mandrioli
      @University of Milan
  • 15:30-17:00 ZETA 2 ROOM
  • AGORA 8.
    Critical and Historical Perspectives on International Law’s Turn to Technology
    ZETA 2 room

    Chair:  Lora Izvorova @LSE

    • The Allure of Possibility: Technological Solutionism and International Law
      Andreas Kulick @Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
    • Testing the Power of Social Technology in the Face of Physical Technology
      Katalin Sulyok @Eötvös Loránd University
    • A People-Centered Information Society? Internet Architecture and the Price of Technical Efficiency
      Nathan Ehrenfreund
      @McGill University
  • 17:00-17:15 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Coffee & Tea

  • 17:00-18:00 ZETA 2 ROOM
  • New Members Meeting with the ESIL Board

  • 17:00-18:00 ZETA 1 ROOM
  • Closed Business Meeting for Publishers and Editors

  • 17:00-18:00 BETA ROOM
  • ESIL Mentoring Event

  • 18:00-19:00 ZETA 1 ROOM
  • Meet the Editors and Publishers!

  • 18:00-19:00 ZETA 2 ROOM
  • Meeting of Interest Group Conveners and ESIL Board Members

  • 19:00-21:00 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Welcome Reception with Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, deputy minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania

  • 08:30-18:00 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Registration & Hospitality Desk

  • 09:00-10:30 BETA ROOM
  • FORUM 3.
    Dispute Resolution in Times of Technological Change

    Chair: Edouard Fromageau @University of Aberdeen

    • Adaptive Governance and the Path towards Responsible AI in Courts
      Malcolm Langford @Oslo University
    • Ethical Challenges to the Use of Technology in Dispute Resolution
      Katia Fach Gómez @University of Zaragoza
    • Telos and Judicial Precedents: Decision-Making in the Face of Modern Technologies
      Johanas Baltrimas @Vilnius University
  • 09:00-10:30 ALFA ROOM
  • FORUM 4.
    Technologies of Warfare – International Peace and Security in a Digital Age

    Chair: Christian J. Tams @University of Glasgow

    • Ensuring a Degree of Accountability in the Context of Digital Warfare through UN Human Rights Mechanisms
      Gentian Zyberi @Oslo University
    • The Use of New Technologies During Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine: International Legal Perspective
      Natalia Hendel @Geneva Academy
    • International Legal Scholarship and the Problem of Cyberwar 
      Lianne JM Boer @VU Amsterdam
  • 10:30-11:00 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Coffee & Tea

  • 11:00-12:30 BETA ROOM
  • FORUM 5.
    Rethinking International Law: Digital Sources, Subjects and Sovereigns

    Chair: Tamar Megiddo @Tel Aviv University

    • Searching for International Law at the Security Council: Fact-Making in the Digital Age
      Henning Lahmann @Leiden University
    • Digital Sovereignty and Human Rights: Balancing Security and Freedom
      Tiina Pajuste @Tallinn University
    • Regulating AI: Law, Data and Infrastructure
      Benedict Kingsbury @New York University
  • 11:00-12:30 ALFA ROOM
  • FORUM 6.
    Accountability and Immunity in International Law

    Chair: Gabija Grigaitė Daugirdė @Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania

    • Immunities of State Officials and International Crimes
      Patrycja Grzebyk @University of Warsaw
    • Reparations in International Law
      Photini Pazartzis @Tufts
    • Enforcement of Compensation Awards of the European Court of Human Rights within the Council of Europe
      Veronika Fikfak @UCL
  • 12:30-13:30 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Lunch

  • 13:30-15:00 ALFA ROOM
  • AGORA 9.
    Digital Humanitarianism and Disaster Relief

    Chair: Mykola Gnatovski @ECHR

    • Facial Recognition Technology in Russia’s War Against Ukraine: from Awareness Raising to Evidence before the Courts
      Agnė Limantė @Lithuanian Law Institute
    • Digital Technologies and the (Re)shaping of International Humanitarian Law
      Jonathan Hafetz @Seton Hall University
    • Genetic Tracing, DNA Testing, and Forcibly Transferred Ukrainian Children
      Yulia Ioffe @UCL
  • 13:30-15:00 BETA ROOM
  • AGORA 10.
    New Technologies and the Legal Profession: Education, Litigation, Research, Activism

    Chair: Vigita Vėbraitė @Vilnius University

    • Satellite Images as Evidence before the International Court of Justice
      Anna Ventouratou @University of Sheffield
      and Eirini-Erasmia Fasia @Wageningen University
    • AI in Legal Education: Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities within the International Legal Landscape
      Noora Arajärvi @EUI
    • Fait Accompli: Predicting the Outcomes of Investment Treaty Negotiations
      Runar Hilleren Lie @University of Oslo
  • 13:30-15:00 ZETA 1 ROOM
  • AGORA 11.
    When Renewal Repeats?  International Lawmaking in a Digital Era

    Chair: Sarah Zarmsky @University of Essex

    • ‘Smart Treaties’: The Promise and Limits of Technology for International Law Making and Enforcement
      Niccolò Ridi @King’s College London
    • Between Entropy and Sovereignty: Emerging Infrastructures for Genetic Data Sharing
      Adam Strobeyko @Geneva Graduate Institute
    • Power, Political Economy and the Problem of the Disregard: Future Proofing the UN’s Governance of Open-Source Software
      Jennifer Tridgell @University of Cambridge
  • 13:30-15:00 ZETA 2 ROOM
  • AGORA 12.
    Technology, Vulnerability and Human Rights Law 

    Chair: Professor Thomas Streinz @New York University

    • Is Human Rights Law Capable of Protecting Against the Chilling Effects of Surveillance?
      Daragh Murray @Queen Mary University London
    • Confronting Digital Technologies: Addressing Vulnerabilities through an Infrastructural Approach to Human Rights
      Angelina Fisher @New York University
    • Human Right Protection By Design?
      Victoria Guijarro Santos @University of Goettingen
  • 15:00-15:30 Lobby of the Conference Center
  • Coffee & Tea sponsored by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

  • 15:30-17:00 ALFA ROOM
  • General Assembly (with elections)

  • 17:00-18:00 ALFA ROOM
  • Closing Discussion with Jörg Polakiewicz, Council of Europe and the Presentation of Berlin’s Conference

  • 19:00-23:00 DUKE'S PALACE
  • Conference Dinner & ESIL Awards

    Conference dinner and closing sponsored by TGS Baltic

MEET CONFERENCE

SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

EXHIBITORS

MEETING POINT

CONFERENCE VENUE

The ESIL Conference  will take place in Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, located on Konstitucijos av. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania. 

To book a room in the conference venue hotel, please press here:

cONFERENCE

VENUE

The ESIL Conference  will take place in Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, located on Konstitucijos av. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania