Soft Law in International Law - BIICL/SLS Workshop

International Law

Date: Wednesday, 26 March 2025

Time: 11.30 - 17.15 (UK time)

Venue: Online

Co-organised with

Event Details

The term "soft law" takes on a variety of meanings, but in the international legal context it is generally thought of as "a convenient description for a variety of non-binding, normatively worded instruments used in contemporary international relations by states and international organizations" (Boyle, 2019). In recent decades, there has been a proliferation of declarations, resolutions, codes of conduct, action plans, guidelines and principles adopted by international and regional organisations across every field and sub-field of international law. These instruments play an increasingly important role in international law and relations today and offer various advantages to States when compared with regulating their affairs through binding multilateral treaties. However, the increasing use of soft law in various fields of international law has also given rise to questions relating to the creation, status, utility and enforcement of these instruments, as well as what in fact amounts to soft law and how these instruments relate to and interact with other sources of international law.

To explore these and other questions, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the International Law Section of the Society of Legal Scholars are convening an online workshop to take place on 26 March 2025. The workshop's theme will be soft law in international law, specifically including both general/structural issues as well as questions relating to specific instruments or falling within specific disciplines or sub-fields of international law. Panels will explore theoretical, practical and contextual questions surrounding the use of soft law, as well as the proliferation of soft law instruments in fields including international environmental law, business and human rights, technology and artificial intelligence, health law and trade and investment, among others.

The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Steven Haines of the University of Greenwich.

This event is convened by Georgia Greville and Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci (BIICL) with Dr Solon Solomon and Dr Saeed Bagheri (SLS).

Join the conversation on BlueSky #BIICLSLSWorkshop

Programme

11:30am - 11:45am Welcome and introduction

11:45am - 12:15pm Keynote address

12:15pm - 1:15pm Parallel session 1 (see below)

1.15pm - 1.30pm Break

1.30pm - 2:30pm Parallel session 2 (see below)

2.30pm - 2.45pm Break

2:45pm - 3:45pm Parallel session 3 (see below)

3.45pm - 4.00pm Break

4.00pm - 5.00pm Parallel session 4 (see below)

5:00pm - 5:15pm Closing remarks

Keynote Address

Professor Steven Haines, University of Greenwich

Steven Haines is an honorary trustee and Professor of Public International Law in the University of Greenwich. His research today is focused principally on Ocean Governance and the maintenance of safe and secure seas (although he continues to work in the fields of International Humanitarian Law and the law relating to international security). Prior to taking up his current post in Greenwich, he spent four years in Geneva, on the Management Board of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also taught as adjunct faculty at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. From 2003 to 2008 he was at Royal Holloway, University of London, as founding Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations; he was appointed to a Chair in 2006. He has a strong record of pro bono work within international civil society organizations. In Geneva he worked with Geneva Call, the NGO that encourages compliance with International Humanitarian Law by armed non-state actors. Since 2011, he has acted as Legal and Military consultant to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, drafting International Guidelines on the Military Use of Schools in Conflict Zones (the core of the Safe Schools Declaration) that are now endorsed by almost 90 states globally. He joined Save the Children International's Civil-Military Advisory Board in 2017, becoming its Chair in 2018.

With a specialist legal interest in the Law of Armed Conflict Applicable at Sea, he was one of the peer reviewers for the International Committee of the Red Cross's new Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention published in 2017. To Human Rights at Sea he brings not only his academic and civil society knowledge and experience but also over thirty years experience as a naval officer (from 1971 to 2003), He served at sea in a variety of surface warships, deploying to most of the world's oceans as well as waters adjacent to the United Kingdom, and was involved in a range of maritime law enforcement roles, including as a British Sea Fisheries Officer. He also served for a total of eight years on the Naval and Central Policy Staffs in the Ministry of Defence, including on the Executive Board of the British Armed Forces' strategic and doctrinal think-tank in Shrivenham (the JDCC, now the DCDC), having been the RN member of the MoD's Strategic Development Study responsible for its establishment in 1999. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), was elected a Fellow of the Nautical Institute (FNI) in 1995 and a Member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (Sanremo, Italy) in 2010. Most recently (2019), he was elected as President/Chair of the UK Group of the International Society for Military Law and the Laws of War.

Parallel Session 1

Panel 1: Soft law in context
Chair: Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci

1. Author: Felix Schott
Title: Soft Law's Journey: A Tale of Blurred Lines and Complex Governance

2. Authors: Sarah McCosker and Esmé Shirlow
Title: The Rise of Non-Treaty Instruments: Implications and Intersections with International Law

3. Authors: Dafni-Konstantina Politikou and Marilina Gerassimou
Title: Treaty Fatigue and the Rise of Soft Law Instruments in International Space Law: A Critical Examination

Panel 2: Climate change and the environment
Chair: Dr Alina Holzhausen

1. Author: Adriana Giunta
Title: Speed Dating Questions on the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: From Soft Law to Customary International Law?

2. Author: Maria Anaya-Torres
Title: Is Soft Law Really Soft? An Overview of the Role of Soft Law in the Global Climate Change Legal Regime

3. Author: Amelia Walters
Title: Hardening Soft Law in Face of the Climate Crisis: The Use of International Soft Law in Climate Change Litigation

Panel 3: Soft law and human rights
Chair: Georgia Greville

1. Author: Aristi Volou
Title: Soft Law, Strong Impact? The Role of Soft Law Jurisprudence in the Advancement of Socioeconomic Rights

2. Author: Nayia Christodoulou
Title: The CRC and CRPD Committees' Role in the Progression of the Child's 'Right to be Heard' into a 'Right to Participate in the Decision-making Process'

3. Author: Paula Nuño Balmaceda
Title: Feminist Approaches to Soft Law

Parallel Session 2

Panel 4: Soft law before domestic and international courts
Chair: Dr Rosana Garciandia

1. Author: Oktawian Kuc
Title: International Soft Law and Domestic Courts

2. Author: Mena Harbi
Title: Soft Law's Transformative Role in International Law: Judicial Reasoning, Sovereignty, and Global Governance

3. Author: Pavlína Hubková
Title: International Soft Law in the Reasoning of National Courts: Between Persuasiveness and the Duty to Consider

Panel 5: Technology, privacy and artificial intelligence
Chair: Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci

1. Author: Nahide Basri
Title: Data Protection Instruments as Subsequent Practice in the Interpretation of the Right to Privacy

2. Author: Paige Morrow
Title: From 'Like' to Litigation: The Hardening of Soft Law in Platform Governance

3. Author: Marco Pasqua
Title: Soft Law and the (Growing) Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Bridging Gaps Towards Hard Law

Panel 6: Business and human rights
Chair: Georgia Greville

1. Author: Elena Assenza
Title: From International 'Soft' Law to National Law: The UNGPs and the Harmonization of National Law in the EU via the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

2. Author: Maciej Gajos
Title: The Relevance of Soft Law for Determining Corporate Responsibility for Business-Related Human Rights Abuses

3. Author: Alexandros Tzionas
Title: The Normative Transformation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct into Hard Law - Due Process Risks and Practical Implications

Parallel Session 3

Panel 7: Soft law in treaty interpretation and modification
Chair: Dr Saeed Bagheri

1. Author: Joseph Crampin
Title: Non-Binding Agreements and Treaty Interpretation

2. Author: Ivo Tarik de Vries-Zou
Title: Soft Law in Treaty Modification

3. Author: Sarah (Sally) Thin
Title: A Soft Touch? The Systemic Integration of Soft Law in Treaty Interpretation

Panel 8: Soft law in conflict and peace
Chair: Georgia Greville

1. Author: Abzal Amangos
Title: Implementing the Soft Law Right to Peace: Non-Participation in a War of Aggression as the Actionable Legal Entitlement of the Individual Dimension of the Right to Peace

2. Author: E Prema and Ragul OV
Title: The Role of Soft Law in the Regulation of Armed Conflict: Normative Shifts and Legal Implications

3. Author: Maria Xiouri
Title: The Reform of the Institutions Created by the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: An Example of the Interplay Between a Treaty and a Non-Legally Binding Agreement

Panel 9: Soft law and regional issues
Chair: Dr Solon Solomon

1. Author: Cristiano d'Orsi
Title: Are the African Commission's Resolutions Domestically Incorporated and Implemented? Attempting a (Difficult) Assessment

2. Author: Arianne Joy Fabregas
Title: Soft Law in Maritime Governance: Implications for Philippine Sovereignty and Security in the Context of UNCLOS and BBNJ

3. Author: Feryal Fekri
Title: The Role of Soft Law in Facilitating Energy Access and Combating Energy Poverty in South America

Parallel Session 4

Panel 10: Understanding soft law
Chair: Dr Saeed Bagheri

1. Author: Florian Bayer
Title: The Normative Dynamics of Soft Law: Navigating Persuasion and Power Imbalances

2. Author: Pedro José Martinez Esponda
Title: On Formalism and Non-Formalism in International Legal Change: The Role of Soft Law

3. Author: Fuad Zarbiyev
Title: The Legal Effects of Soft Law: Understanding Hersch Lauterpacht with the Help of Robert Brandom

Panel 11: Trade and Investment
Chair: Dr Julinda Beqiraj

1. Author: Bin Cheng
Title: Soft Multilateralism Modernizing Hard Bilateralism: Mapping Soft Law References in International Investment Regime

2. Authors: Irine Handika, Mailinda Eka Yuniza and Jonathan Abram Dewanto
Title: Critical Minerals and the WTO Appellate Body Crisis: Are Soft Laws Redefining the Multilateral Trade Order?

3. Author: Ines Willemyns
Title: Soft Language in Digital Trade Law

Panel 12: Soft law and public health
Chair: Dr Solon Solomon

1. Author: Giulia Bosi
Title: Soft and Hard Law in Global Health Law: A Few Reflections

2. Authors: Miriam Cohen and Gaëlle Foucault
Title: Soft Law as Smart Power: An Empirical Analysis of the Influence of World Health Organization Norms

3. Author: Dena Kirpalani
Title: From Soft to Sticky: The Establishment of Norms Through Soft Law Instruments - The Case of Unitaid

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CPD Information

This event offers the equivalent of 5 CPD hours.

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