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Public Lectures and Other Events

1st February 2024: Thomas Franck Lecture by Dr. Julia Duchrow

"Human rights defenders and their organizations are under great pressure worldwide, especially when they take to the streets to defend their cause. It is important to defend civil society space for action and to support persecuted human rights defenders. The erosion of human rights is not destiny. It is in our hands. In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. So let us make sure we won’t be silent."



11th January 2024: Book Launch “The International Legal Order in Global Governance - Norms, Power and Policy”

Book Launch “The International Legal Order in Global Governance - Norms, Power and Policy”



27th November 2023: Panel Discussion "The Decline of the World Trade Organization as a Forum for Trade Governance: Who Wins and Who Loses?"

Panel Discussion "The Decline of the World Trade Organization as a Forum for Trade Governance: Who Wins and Who Loses?"

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995 to serve as a forum for trade negotiations, to supervise the implementation of trade rules, and to settle trade disputes. However, just short of its 30th anniversary, the WTO finds itself beset by crises: multilateral trade negotiations are largely stalled, and even the long-celebrated dispute settlement system is a shadow of its former self after its appeal level was sabotaged by the United States. What are the dynamics that account for this state of affairs, and what do they mean for the future of trade governance? Who is set to win and lose as the WTO cedes its central place in governing the world economy? And how does the German Government see these developments?



17th October 2023: Thomas Franck Lecture by Dr. Ute Hohoff

On 17th October 2023, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Dr. Ute Hohoff on "The International Criminal Court – Between Internationality and Sovereignty".

"A universal court, not limited to a specific region and situation and of a permanent, not only ad hoc character, was supposed to attract true universal adherence. But the court can only act within the existing geopolitical framework. […] And this framework has become more complicated, not only since the Russian aggression against Ukraine, but also in the conflict in the Middle-East."



20th June 2023: Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Samuel Moyn

On 20th June 2023, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Samuel Moyn on "Liberalism between Two Cold Wars".

"Obviously there was never just one liberal script and if challenges today are not coming at liberalism in the singular, neither did liberalism come in a singular. [...] [T]here have been lots of liberalisms and they differ from one another […], but I think the very largest mutation in the history of liberalism did come in the middle decades oft he 20th century."



12th June 2023: Book Launch “The Regulation of Intelligence Activities under International Law”

Book Launch “The Regulation of Intelligence Activities under International Law”



4th May 2023: Thomas Franck Lecture by Sir Michael Wood

On 04 May 2023, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Sir Michael Wood on "Values in the International Community: Jus cogens in light of the International Law Commission’s 2022 Conclusions".

"But read overall and read together with the commentaries – which you always have to – the [ILC] Conclusions offer carefully judged clarifications of an important topic for the future of international law. The clarifications, I believe, are likely to be helpful to judges and others seeking to apply international law in practice and thus to the rule of law. It is in states own interest that the General Assembly completes its considerations of the topic now by annexing the conclusions to a consensus resolution and bringing them to the attention of states."



27th April 2023: Roundtable Discussion "The United Nations, War and Global Disorder"

Roundtable Discussion "The United Nations, War and Global Disorder"



08 December 2022: Thomas Franck Lecture by Joseph Weiler

On 08 December 2022, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Joseph Weiler on "Is the Church of European Integration facing a Reformation?".

"On democracy, what has to be done [...] is we have to politicize the European Union. In the next elections in one and a half year, there can be Europe wide parties, you do not need to change the treaties for that. [...] About the Court, [...] the European Court has to be the decider of intra vires v. ultra vires. [...] A chamber of the European Court of Justice is to be established. And in this camber there will be six sitting constitutional judges from the member states and six members of the European Court of Justice."



22 September 2022: Thomas Franck Lecture by Benedict Kingsbury

On 22 September 2022, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Benedict Kingsbury on "Updating the International Law Endowment in the Era of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence".

"Thinking forward really is my overall idea – how to think forward with international law contributing to the ways in which the orientations of international law and international lawyers can be adjusted to different status of futurity."



08 September 2022: Thomas Franck Lecture by Philippa Webb

On 08 September 2022, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Philippa Webb on "Not Reinventing the Wheel: Using Existing Exceptions to Sovereign Immunity to Enhance Accountability".

"There is promise of progress by using existing exceptions to hold states or diplomats accountable for abusive conduct rather than trying to invent a new exception. This approach is not artificial, it's not legal acrobatics. Human rights violations can and do occur in employment context, in the context of personal injury or commercial transactions. And the theme running through these case studies is the importance of appreciating that treaty terms can evolve in their meaning. Courts have been willing to give an updated interpretation of key terms taking into account social and technological change."



02 June 2022: Thomas Franck Lecture by Harold H. Koh

On 02 June 2022, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Harold H. Koh on "Inside the Biden Administration's Approach to International Law and Institutions".

"So when Biden came in, he was pushing for a thick theory of international law, based on three smart power principles: First, that human rights should be at the center of our foreign policy, second, what we call the three D's - Diplomacy, Development and Democracy - and third, what we call the four R's - Reverse, Reengage, Reconceptualize and Rebuild. That was the plan."



16 May 2022: Thomas Franck Lecture by Samantha Besson

On 16 May 2022, the Research Group hosted a Thomas Franck Lecture by Professor Samantha Besson on "The Public/Private Relation and International Law".

"Public-private hybridisation and the resulting privatisation of public law and, conversely, the publicisation of private law are now not only common in international law, but are also increasingly required by international law. This process of hybridisation is likely to lead, sooner or later, to the collapse of the public-private distinction. In turn, this is bound to have serious consequences for the legitimacy of both domestic and international law. Indeed, the public-private relation does not only underpin the ideal of the rule of law, but also the principles of democracy and human rights."



3 March 2022: Roundtable Discussion "The end of the international legal order? Russia’s aggression against Ukraine"

Roundtable Discussion "The end of the international legal order? Russia’s aggression against Ukraine"



13 December 2021: Thomas Franck Lecture by Paweł Filipek

“The Polish Constitutional Tribunal and European Union Law on a Collision Course”

"The Constitutional Tribunal’s judgement constitutes a blow to the core of EU law. To permit national authorities to be left with full discretion over the judicial system in contravention of national constitutional norms and European Convention standards and without regard of EU requirements amounts to the destruction of the EU legal order."



28 October 2021: Thomas Franck Lecture by Cathryn Costello

"The 1951 Refugee Convention at 70: Whither the Convention in the Global Refugee Regime?”

"When you do have a clear norm, you cannot say, let us dismantle non-refoulement, as we are going to get called out for that and you don’t want other states to violate non-refoulement either. But you reframe the issue [as hybrid attack]. And maybe this is so patiently transparently illegal that it is not going to catch upon. But on the other hand […] Ursula van der Leyen explicitly recognised that the EU was facing […] a hybrid attack.“



26 September 2019: Panel Discussion "What Type of International Law?"

Panel Discussion "What Type of International Law?"



13 May 2019: Thomas Franck Lecture by Alain Pellet

“Values and Power Relations – The “Disillusionment” of International Law”

“The most likely development I think we can expect will be the coexistence of two (…) “legal worlds”. On the one hand, an inter-State law brutally regulating political relations between human groups whitewashed by nationalism; on the other hand, a transnational or “a-national” law regulating economic relations between private as well as public interests. There are, I believe, two obvious victims (…) of this foreseeable evolution: the human being on the one hand, the certainty and effectiveness of the rule of law itself on the other hand.”



11 February 2019: Thomas Franck Lecture by Martti Koskenniemi

"International Lawyers and the Backlash against Global Rule"

"The reactionary backlash against everything international is the result of a status lost (...). It’s occasioned by developments in the West since the 1960’s, but peaking in the liberal hubris in the 1990s. The sharp end of the attack has been directed to a global expert culture that is seen as utterly hypocritical in two ways: it presents one part of its opinions as scientific or technical truths and another part of its opinions as human rights."



04 February 2019: Thomas Franck Lecture by Laurence Boisson de Chazournes

“The Paris Climate Change instruments as a blueprint for new legal approaches?”

"We have reached a point where States, in fact, are not any more willing to commit in a drastic manner. States are more and more challenging these commitments and when they do commit they emphasize their political nature. But on the other hand, we also have an international community composed of non-State actors who want States to do more, or the international community to do more. So shouldn’t we think about another way of doing it internationally?"



23 October 2018: Public Lecture by Mikael Rask Madsen

“The European Court of Human Rights: From Boom to Backlash"



25 June 2018: Thomas Franck Lecture by Sir Franklin Berman

"Authority in International Law"

"I’ve spoken about authority in the context laid out by Article 38 of the ICJ Statute, that is, where and how we look when subsidiary means are needed to determine already existing rules of law. […] I’ve suggested that when the need for law determination does occur, sources with appropriate authority are readily there to be found, that they stand in no hierarchical relationship to one another, nor do they need to. I’ve argued that rational criteria exist as to which ones deserve to be featured with greater authority in a particular case."



9 June 2018: Panel Discussion “Human Rights in Crisis – Challenged Human Rights Protection as Sign of a Transformation of International Law?”

“Human Rights in Crisis – Challenged Human Rights Protection as Sign of a Transformation of International Law?”



04. Juni 2018: Podiumsdiskussion "Recht und Sicherheit Global - Politische und völkerrechtliche Aspekte einer Mitgliedschaft Deutschlands im UN-Sicherheitsrat"

"Recht und Sicherheit Global - Politische und völkerrechtliche Aspekte einer Mitgliedschaft Deutschlands im UN-Sicherheitsrat"



23 April 2018: Thomas Franck Lecture by Terje Einarsen

"Decline of International Refugee Law?"

"Maybe the answer is still 'blowing in the wind' - we don't know yet what will happen. But it is possible that with the Global Compact and the follow-up mechanisms we are moving to a new stage - that international refugee law might eventually become at least a young adult. This means that I'm still cautiously optimistic about the future of international refugee law."



4 December 2017: Thomas Franck Lecture by Andrea Bianchi

“The Unbearable Lightness of International Law”

"It is by becoming aware of having a choice between possible options, by realizing one has discretion, that one experiences a moment of vertigo. This moment consists of the vertigo of professional freedom, when we realize it might well be the other way. After all, this is the unbearable lightness, the emotional experience we go through when we realize that international law might not be at all what we think it is."



30 November 2017: Thomas Franck Lecture by Angelika Nußberger

“From high hopes to disillusionment? Human rights protection in Europe in an ever more hostile environment.”

"What if you say you have accepted to play with a cat that might grow, but all of a sudden, the cat has turned into a tiger? What is development and what is metamorphosis?"



13 November 2017: Thomas Franck Lecture by Bardo Fassbender

“The International Rule of Law and the United Nations Charter - Original Design and Present Challenges”

"Notwithstanding the changes in language and style, the drafters of the UN Charter would have subscribed almost 500 years later to Nicholas Upton’s thought: ‘The annoying and hurtful appetite of men for power and gains must be controlled by the Rule of Law which informs mankind of how to live honestly’ and, they would have added, ‘peacefully’."



4 July 2017: Public Event "International Law in an Era of Populism" - Indiana University Joint Speaker Series

"International Law in an Era of Populism" - Indiana University Joint Speaker Series



24 June 2017: Panel Discussion “International law in crisis – On the challenges caused by terrorism and populism”

"International Law in Crisis – On the Challenges Caused by Terrorism and Populism"



21 June 2017: Thomas Franck Lecture by Campbell McLachlan

“Acts of State and the Principle of Legality in International Affairs - The law’s response to withdrawal from international adjudication”

"We must defend international courts against a tide of withdrawal that, calling forth a siren song of nativism, would seek to criticize international adjudication as intervening in national self-determination, when in reality the international court is seeking to protect other states and individuals from unbridled executive power by applying the principle of legality in international affairs."



6 February 2017: Thomas Franck Lecture by Jean d'Aspremont

"International Law as a Belief System"

"The suspension of the belief system teaches you that the interpretation of a doctrine is not the interpretation of the fundamental authoritative text where they are nested. What you interpret when you intervene to adjust a doctrine is not the text itself. In doing that, it makes you more powerful reformers, it makes you more aware of how you can intervene in the making, remaking, unmaking of these fundamental doctrines."



15 December 2016: Thomas Franck Lecture by Andrew Hurrell

"The End of the Global Rule of Law?"

"We can imagine a world in which some big power bargains are done between governments whose concerns are not particularly attractive; we can imagine a world where there is a withdrawal from much of the solidarist law and activity in human rights and democracy; we can imagine a world in which there is a lot more sovereigntism in international regimes and institutions. And we can plausibly say that that might not be a completely unstable world. It would not be a defeat for the idea of the Global Rule of Law, it would be a defeat for a particular idea of what law should achieve."



12 December 2016: Thomas Franck Lecture by Robert McCorquodale

"Defining the International Rule of Law: Providing Reality to a National Legal Idea"

"It is inappropriate to use the type of institutions found in most national systems to determine if there is a rule of law in the international system and to seek to find the same procedural aspects of national law in an international rule of law. The rule of law remains about values or meta-principles within a system, and constraints on the use of power […]."



17 October 2016: Thomas Franck Lecture by Pierre-Marie Dupuy

"Are we facing a 'Disenchantment' (Entzauberung) of the International Legal Order?"

"The pursuit of peace and the renunciation of recourse to force today still constitutes a crucial direction of travel, together with the promotion of human rights and the right of humanity. In order to give the Charter back its messianic dimension, however, we need to add to it the inherently universal cause of guarding and restoring the health of the planet."



18 June 2016: KFG at the ICON-S-Conference 2016 on "Borders, Otherness and Public Law"

Panel on "The International Rule of Law - Rise or Decline?"



15 June 2016: Thomas Franck Lecture by Jutta Brunnée

"The Global Climate Regime 1992-2016: Shifting Norms, Changing Structures and Moving Targets"

"What we have now in the Paris Agreement is in part shaped by three big longer term developments: The first one is a shift in the collective understanding of common but differentiated responsibilities. The second one is the change in the structure of the climate regime and the blending of the traditional treaty based modes with other, more bottom-up, approaches. The third on is a range of movements with respect to the emission targets."



18 April 2016: Thomas Franck Lecture by Angela Kane

"Abrüstungsverträge in der UN: Erwartungen und Chancen"

"Die gegenwärtige Stimmung ist abwartend bis negativ, die Unzufriedenheit groß, die Kluft zwischen Nuklearstaaten und Nicht-Nuklearstaaten erweitert sich mit jedem Jahr und der Wille, zugunsten des Gemeinwohls nationale Abstriche zu machen ist - um es vorsichtig auszudrücken - kaum vorhanden."



14 April 2016: Inaugural Thomas Franck International Law Debate

"The International Rule of Law: Rise or Decline in a Changing Global Order?"



24 September 2015: Opening of the Wengler library

On September 24th, the Wengler library at Humboldt University Berlin was officially opened.



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