News and Developments in International Law and Legal Education Published as an information resource for the ASIL membership, the ASIL Academic Bulletin reports on program developments at ASIL 2008 Academic Partner institutions. January 2008
Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington ASIL Links Home Academic Partnership Program Academic Bulletin Archive Career Development Resouces Symposium of the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies On March 19-21, 2008, the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies will host a symposium entitled "Operationalizing Global Governance" at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington. Global governance scholarship has thus far remained in the realm of ideas, identifying new lawmaking authorities and networks of enforcement while analyzing the ramifications for democracy and the rule of law. This conference strives to advance that line of scholarship by identifying patterns in the ways that various actors - states, corporations, civil society, and resulting networks - are confronting complex problems resulting from globalization. The aim is to discover more effective solutions for such problems, including, for instance, poverty, environmental degradation and terrorism, and to explore common principles that may cut across substantive contexts. The symposium panels will be organized around specific actors and instances where we see these networks first-hand. The panelists will emphasize actual case studies from specific situations (such as counterinsurgency, USAID efforts, constitution-making, or post-conflict humanitarian interventions) that press scholars of law and others toward solutions. Together, we will analyze the intersections of law and government, civil society, corporations and business practices - ultimately imagining governance principles that promote the common good and preserve the rule of law and democratic representation. Hannah Buxbaum, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Law, and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow at Indiana Law, is chairing the conference committee. Conference on Customary International Law On April 3-5, 2008, the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington will host a conference entitled "The Individual and Customary International Law Formation" at the law school in Bloomington, Indiana. The conference will explore the current disjuncture in customary international law that results in individuals being subjects of this category of law, but not legitimate participants in its formation. During a classical moment in international law, states were believed to have a monopoly on customary international law formation. This position was acceptable and accepted given the status states enjoy as the sole subjects of international law. The end of the twentieth century, however, was a period in which legal personhood was extended to a wider range of actors, including individuals. During this same period, individuals came to participate meaningfully in treaty-making in some key areas of international law, including human rights. Unlike in the area of treaty law, however, there remains no recognized opening in traditional customary international law doctrine for individuals to participate in the law-making process. Uncomfortable with this state of affairs, we plan to bring together some of the foremost scholars of customary international law to investigate whether the participation of individuals in the formation of this realm of law is desirable and practicable. The conference will call upon scholars in a range of fields related to this question. We are pleased to announce that Jordan J. Paust, the Mike and Teresa Baker Law Center Professor at the University of Houston Law Center, will be giving the keynote address. Associate Professor of Law Christiana Ochoa is chairing the conference committee.