Postgraduate Conference: New Voices in International Law

New Voices in International Law

Thursday, 8 May 2025

About this event

As global society confronts an ever-growing set of challenges and crises, the discipline of international law finds itself under critical scrutiny. Can international law rise to the occasion and provide answers and solutions to global problems? Or is international law itself a part of the problem, whether because of dysfunction, ineffectiveness or structural blind spots? Ultimately, how or to what extent can international law’s aspirations be realised?

The conference aims to provide a dynamic forum for postgraduate scholars to present and discuss their ongoing research in international law, including with established scholars in the ﬁeld. The event is further envisaged as providing a foundation for future collaboration.

Venue: The Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin

Programme

9.00 – 9.30	Registration
9.30 – 10.00 Opening Remarks and Keynote Speech	Opening Remarks Dr Christiane Ahlborn (Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Trinity College Dublin) Keynote Speaker Dr Trevor Redmond (Legal Counsellor, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
10.15 – 11.20 Panel 1: International Law and Sustainability	Commentator: Dr Naporn Popattanachai (Assistant Professor in Environmental and Marine Law, University of Galway) Alessandra Accogli (Dublin City University): ‘The Nexus between Carbon Sinks under International Climate Law and Local Land Uses: The Case of Peatlands in Ireland’ Kamil Akdag (Trinity College Dublin): ‘Rethinking International Law in the Age of Technology and Climate Crisis: A Multidimensional Approach to Governance and Accountability’ Gurkan Capar (Maynooth University): ‘Reconstructing International Law through Legitimacy: The Paradox of Global Constitutionalism and Environmental Constitutionalism’
11.20 – 11.40	Tea/Coffee Break
11.40 – 13.00 Panel 2: International Law and Gaza	Commentator: Dr Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan (Lecturer Maynooth University and Law Society of Ireland; Visiting Professor ESCP Torino, Italy; Adjunct Professor Woxsen University, India) Baha Ebdeir (University College Dublin): ‘Narrating Gaza Beyond Dead Bodies and Rubble Pile: A Critical Assessment of the Destruction of Gaza’s Cultural Heritage and the Role of International Law’ Bana Abu Zuluf (Maynooth University): ‘“People-to-People” Projects under Ongoing Settler Colonialism in Palestine: A Critical Appraisal’ Inji Mammadli (Trinity College Dublin): ‘The Untold Consequences of the Gaza Blockade: A Law of the Sea Perspective’
13.00 – 14.00	Lunch Break
14.00 – 15.20 Panel 3: Human Rights and International Institutions	Commentator: Dr David Keane (Associate Professor, Dublin City University) Valeriia Dymbrylova (Dublin City University): ‘The UN Human Rights Treaty System and Corruption: Towards a Human Rights-Based Approach to Corruption’ Janine Geddis (Queen’s University Belfast): ‘Dysfunction, Ineffectiveness, and Structural Blind Spots in the Protection of the Right to Mental Health in the Workplace by Human Rights Law’ Metha Ramadita (Trinity College Dublin): ‘No Longer in a Cocoon: Reassessing the International Monetary Fund’s Obligations Under International Human Rights Law’
15.20 – 15.40	Tea/Coffee Break
15.40 – 17.10 Panel 4: Historical and Conceptual Narratives in International Law	Commentator: Dr Aoife O’Donoghue (Professor, Queen’s University Belfast) Pearce Clancy (University of Galway): ‘Community Interests in International Law’ Connor McBain (Ulster University): ‘Double Standards and Limited War: Revisiting the 1907 Drago-Porter Convention and the Imperial Logic Underlying the Prohibition of the Use of Force’ Farid Guliyev (Maynooth University): ‘The EU as a Case Study for Exploring the Membership Criteria of the GATT/WTO: Particular Focus on the Full Autonomy’ Sonya Cotton (University College Dublin): ‘Apartheid’s Transnational Entanglements and the (Mis)Recognition of ‘Communities’ in Southern African Land Claims’
17.10 – 17.20	Closing Remarks Mike Becker (Assistant Professor of International Human Rights Law, Trinity College Dublin)