2006 Annual Meeting Theme

A Just World Under Law

One hundred years after the creation of The American Society of International Law (ASIL), the Society’s Centennial Meeting will reflect upon the theme, “A Just World Under Law,” in order to consider fundamental questions about the world we live in and the role of international law in shaping that world. ASIL’s 2006 Centennial Meeting provides an opportunity for both retrospection and initiative. It will allow participants to reflect upon our own responsibility as lawyers and advocates working in the international arena to bring about a just world. In the words of Elihu Root, ASIL’s first president: “ The increase of popular control over national conduct, which marks the political development of our time, makes it constantly more important that the great body of the people in each country should have a just conception of their international rights and duties.” This remains true for us today.

Although it is hard to argue with a just world under law as an objective, there is sure to be much less agreement on what this ideal world would look like, how it would be best achieved or whether it can be achieved. On one view, a just world results from state actors utilizing international law to balance public order with human dignity. On another, it would require increasing the participation of individuals and other non-state actors in international law-making and making them accountable under international law. Another view is that justice should be substantive rather than procedural and that international law must address inequalities of power between participants in the international system.On still another view, it would involve the creation of a broad, shared cultural commitment to the rule of law and to neutral international dispute resolution mechanisms.

These visions implicate some of the most basic, and difficult, questions confronting the international legal system today. What are the attributes of justice that international law should promote ? What is the right balance of concern between, on the one hand, individuals and, on the other, states and other international actors? How does a just world account for disparities of wealth and power among states and among individuals within states? What role do private actors and nongovernmental organizations have in achieving a just world? By what methods do norms generated by international law contribute to a just world?