44th Annual Austrian Symposium on Public International Law "Back to the Sources of International Law"
The 44th Annual Austrian Symposium on Public International Law took place in Rust am Neusiedlersee from 13 to 15 June 2019. The Section for International Law and International Relations organized the symposium under the general theme "Back to the Sources of International Law".
The academic programme impressively shows the broad spectrum of current academic research on sources of international law. In addition to the opening speech on the Brexit negotiations by Ambassador Gregor Schusterschitz, a number of presentations discussed questions related to withdrawal from treaties. While Paul Gragl and Michael J. Moffatt elaborated on philosophical and political aspects, Christina Binder and Benedikt Harzl focussed on concrete withdrawal scenarios regarding the ICSID-Convention and the Russian Federation’s strained relationship with the ECHR.
With a view to international customary law, Jörg Kammerhofer offered a critical analysis of the general theory for the determination of customary law. Ralph Janik and Elisabeth Hoffberger-Pippan on the other hand provided practical examples on the development of custom related to ius ad bellum and ius in bello. Eventually, Markus P. Beham, Philipp Janig and Gebhard Bücheler examined historical and doctrinal questions of general principles of law.
The general theme of the symposium was taken up by Matthias Kettemann who presented his post-doctoral thesis on a normative order of the internet. It was also reflected on the panel of practitioners chaired by Ambassador Helmut Tichy, at which Ambassador Roger Dubach, Director Konrad Bühler and Director-General Christophe Eick shared valuable insights in the Austrian, German and Swiss international law practice.
