Lauterpacht Centre for International Law

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Beth Simmons, Professor of International Law, University of Pennsylvania. Summary: The Golden Age of globalization has reached an end in the popular and political imagination. In its place has arisen growing anxiety about state borders. What is the evidence of such a shift? What are the causes and consequences? What answers does international law have for how international borders should be governed, especially as human mobility intensifies? Traditional international law defining and settling borders will not suffice to answer these questions. Instead, the lectures explore a different approach that views international borders as institutions that obligate states to manage the tensions that territorial governance implies in an interdependent world. This is a hybrid event. Register on website.

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Beth Simmons, Professor of International Law, University of Pennsylvania. Summary: The Golden Age of globalization has reached an end in the popular and political imagination. In its place has arisen growing anxiety about state borders. What is the evidence of such a shift? What are the causes and consequences? What answers does international law have for how international borders should be governed, especially as human mobility intensifies? Traditional international law defining and settling borders will not suffice to answer these questions. Instead, the lectures explore a different approach that views international borders as institutions that obligate states to manage the tensions that territorial governance implies in an interdependent world. This is a hybrid event. Register on website.

This is an in-person event only. This event, co-organized by the Lauterpacht Centre with the Institute of Juridical and Political Sciences at the University of Lisbon, will focus on important recent developments in the area of the law of the sea. This is a dynamically developing area of public international law, marked in recent years by action taken to address the challenges of such phenomena as rising sea levels and environmental pollution. The highlight of 2023 was the successful completion of negotiations on the UN High Seas Treaty (on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction). Traditional disputes relating to maritime delimitation (of which the renowned South China Sea arbitration may be an example) have been complemented by promoting climate change action through resort to the advisory jurisdiction of ITLOS (a request for an advisory opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States in December 2022) and the ICJ (at the initiative of the small island state Vanuatu, a proposed request for an advisory opinion on state obligations on climate change). The symposium will explore the particularities and efficiency of dispute resolution and treaty making in the law of the sea. It will provide a forum for analysis and debate also on other developments in this field, such as the blockade of Black Sea ports. The symposium will be divided into three sessions. The first session will cover contentious dispute resolution mechanisms and practice. The second session will be devoted to the use of advisory jurisdiction of international tribunals to promote important environmental policy goals. The third session will concern other developments. For further information contact Dr Joanna Gomula jg218@cam.ac.uk .

This lecture is a hybrid event. There is a sandwich lunch at 12.30 pm in the Old Library at the Centre. All lecture attendees welcome. Lecture summary: Cultural rights have been invisible in the human rights discussions. They are the main absent from discussions on SDGs and the achievement of social justice. The lecture will explore the main reasons for this. It will argue that unfortunately culture and cultural heritage are still discussed in really restrictive ways, pushing aside their transformational natures. I will discuss the main issues where in my view cultural rights are needed but not fully used; they include gender equality, sustainable development, and the right to science. The main argument is that leaving no one behind, a well-known phrase of the United Nations, cannot really be materialise without the implementation of cultural rights. Alexandra Xanthaki was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in October 2021. She is Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, United Kingdom. Alexandra has published on cultural rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, cultural diversity, cultural heritage, balancing cultural rights with other rights and interests, and multicultural aspects of international human rights law. She holds a law degree from Athens University, a masters degree in 'Human Rights and Emergency Law' from Queen's University, Belfast and a PhD from Keele University, on the 'Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations' that she did under the supervision of Patrick Thornberry. Alexandra is a member of the Summer Human Rights Faculty in Oxford University.