26th ANZSIL Conference: From the local to the global
Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand
Part of the ANZSIL Annual Conference series
The international setting is transforming rapidly, with significant changes in the national political scene of many countries creating new challenges and opportunities for international law. The 26th ANZSIL Annual Conference will be an opportunity to explore a range of themes.
The intersection of domestic law and politics with international law
The 2017 ANZSIL Conference explored the role of international law in an age of nationalism, which is continuing to have an influence in many states. How do domestic law and politics affect international law? Are some national legal systems becoming more open or more closed to international influences? If so what are the reasons for this? And to what extent are there major differences in the ways in which national legal systems conceptualise international law? Does this undermine assumptions about the universality of international law?
The intersection between regionalism and globalism
There is ongoing tension in international law between the development of global rules and institutions, and the ascendancy of regionalism – as seen for example in the preference for regional trade agreements over new WTO rules and the argument that the international community has no role to play in security disputes in particular regions. Does this move challenge the international rule of law, or is it an opportunity for international law to respond to the needs of particular groups of states?
The emergence of new (and old) global challenges
New challenges are arising for the international community all the time. Meanwhile, the existing challenges continue, but in a time at which national interests are sometimes being promoted over the stability of the international order. Are the existing international legal frameworks capable of effectively responding to these developments? Are the principles on which our international legal order are based under threat? Or can we be confident that the international rule of law is sufficiently robust that our contemporary challenges are no more problematic than those that arose in the past?
