January 9, 2025
The International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution in International Law is delighted to announce a conference on Shaping Appropriate ADR in International Law on 7 April 2025, in collaboration with the ILA Italian Branch and with the Department of Law of the University of Florence. The conference will focus on a series of presentations based on papers collected through this Call.
Place: Florence, Italy
Venue: TBD (Hybrid Format)
Conference Theme
As 2025 begins, there is no shortage of international law disputes, in areas ranging from geopolitics to boundaries, trade, investment or environment. As disputes increase, so does interest in efficient, effective, outcomes-focused dispute resolution – whether through adjudication or through alternative means. Growing reluctance to accept binding dispute settlement in some areas of international law makes it all the more important to identify dispute settlement mechanisms that can be both acceptable to the parties and efficient.
The ILA ADR Committee’s April 2025 conference will focus on appropriate ADR in public international law disputes in which at least one party is a State. Are there situations where ADR is generally more appropriate and effective for resolving international disputes, compared to other alternatives? Are particular types of such disputes best suited to ADR, or to some particular type of ADR? Our primary focus will be on non-adjudicatory and non-court processes and procedures in public international law, including but not limited to fact-finding, negotiation, mediation, conciliation, ombuds or transitional justice.
Proposals for papers
This is an open call which welcomes all viewpoints and experiences. We encourage submissions that draw on empirical evidence and set it into theoretical context. We welcome proposals from scholars and practitioners of any career stage, addressing topics such as:
• How should ‘effective’ or ‘appropriate’ dispute resolution be defined?
• Are specific ADR mechanisms particularly appropriate for settling disputes in particular areas of international law – including but not limited to international peace and security, trade and investment law, human rights and humanitarian law, environmental law, law of the sea, maritime and territorial delimitation?
• How should we evaluate whether particular procedures are a good fit, or appropriate for a specific type of dispute? What factors should be considered in this evaluation? (e.g. party control, party satisfaction, efficiency, expense, procedural safeguards, access to justice, enforcement opportunities)
• Case studies examining what ADR mechanisms were used in a particular dispute, why the dispute was or was not resolved, lessons learned from success or failure of ADR.
While the conference will focus on ADR (not adjudication or formal arbitration as such), we welcome proposals focusing on how parties opt for ADR versus adjudication/arbitration, or how they use ADR in conjunction with arbitration/adjudication.
Submission procedure
Proposals for papers including an abstract of up to 500 words must be submitted by 5 February 2025 to the Committee secretariat at adr-ila-committee@proton.me. Proposals must also include the authors’ name, email address and short bios, indicating whether they are ILA members and whether they plan to attend the conference in person. The conference will be in hybrid format, with speakers able to hear and speak remotely. However, preference will be given to authors participating in person. Working language: English.