Faculty of Law

BEAUTY IN LEGAL THEORY WILL SAVE THE WORLD: REVITALIZING THE THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPLIANCE

Event ended

HSE Research Seminar on International Law 

‘BEAUTY IN LEGAL THEORY WILL SAVE THE WORLD: 

REVITALIZING THE THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPLIANCE’


Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell (University of Notre Dame)


October, 6 at 4:00 p.m. (Moscow time) 

Zoom:  

https://zoom.us/j/91064200224?pwd=bndlTm9sQTJ4bENLNXN6RWQwb0tJdz09

Meeting ID:  910 6420 0224

Passcode:  046127

 

Abstract: 

International law evolved to end and prevent armed conflict as much as for any other reason. Yet, the law against war appears weaker today than ever in its long history, evidenced by raging armed conflicts in which people are killed, injured, and forcibly displaced. The environment is devastated, and the planet impoverished. These consequences can be traced to the dominant ideology of realism. In 1946, Hersch Lauterpacht challenged that ideology by contrasting it with the idea of international law, composed of natural law, positive law, and process theory. The approach suggested in the recent monograph of Mary Ellen O'Connell 'Art of Law in the International Community' revives his vision, rebuilding the understanding of why international law binds, what its norms require, and how courts are the ideal substitutes for war. The secret to the renewal of international law lies in revitalizing the moral foundation of natural law through drawing on aesthetic philosophy and the arts. The presentation at the HSE Research Seminar on International Law will dwell on these issues with a focus on the Theory of International Law Compliance.

 

About the speaker:

Mary Ellen O'Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and is Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on international law on the use of force, weapons technology, dispute resolution, and international legal theory, including The Art of Law in the International Community (CUP, 2019), Self-Defense against Non-State Actors (with C. Tams and D. Tladi, CUP, 2019) and The Power and Purpose of International Law: Insights from the Theory and Practice of Enforcement (OUP, 2008, 2011). O’Connell has served as a vice president of the American Society of International Law from 2010-2012 and chaired the Use of Force Committee of the International Law Association from 2005-2010. Professor O’Connell was a Fulbright Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, in a project organized jointly with Princeton’s Program on Law and Public Affairs. Previously, she was a professional military educator for the U.S. Department of Defense in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She also practiced law with the Washington, D.C.-based international law firm, Covington & Burling.

On any questions related to the event, please, contact Ms. Yulia Kozlova: yvkozlova@hse.ru.