Panel Discussion: 'Being an International Lawyer at a Time of Rupture: Role, Responsibility, and Relevance'

Time: 1.00 pm - 2.30 pm

What does it mean to be an international lawyer at a time of rupture? Central pillars of international law are at risk of erosion through increasing state challenges and treaty withdrawals. International courts are busy as ever, yet defied in some of their most high-profile rulings. Accountability remains elusive even as atrocities unfold, while demands for a reckoning with international law’s colonial foundations grow louder, unsettling familiar narratives. At a moment when the discipline is subject to immense political pressure, institutional strain, and, in some contexts, open disregard, its self-understanding calls for renewed examination.

This panel brings together international legal scholars who approach international law from different theoretical and methodological perspectives, some of whom also draw on close engagement with practice. Focusing on questions of role, responsibility, and relevance, the discussion will explore how international lawyers understand their professional roles and normative commitments, how they conceive of the responsibility of the academy and of international law as a discipline, and how they assess the continuing relevance and limits of international law and legal expertise in a changing global order.

Panellists:

Dr Tor Krever

Prof Lorand Bartels

Prof Sarah Nouwen

Dr Rumiana Yotova

Moderators: Dr Fabian Eichberger & Dr Malavika Rao

There will be a sandwich lunch in the Old Library from 12.30 pm for all attendees.

Please note: this is an in-person event only and will not be recorded.