Lauterpacht Centre for International Law

Register online Lecture summary: The Energy Charter Treaty was concluded in 1994 on the assumption that fossil fuels could continue to be used for the foreseeable future. This article examines how ECT contracting parties can now withdraw from this treaty for climate change reasons without being subject to its 'sunset' clause, which protects existing investments for 20 years. It evaluates several strategies, including amendment and inter se agreements, and withdrawal on the basis of a fundamental change of circumstances (rebus sic stantibus). That fundamental change is not climate change itself, which was foreseen in 1994. It is the fact that, as recently stated by the IPCC, fossil fuels now need urgently to be abandoned, resulting in significant stranded assets. This was then unforeseen and radically transforms the extent of the ECT’s obligation to continue to protect existing fossil fuel investments for another 20 years. The article finally considers the implications of such a withdrawal for remaining contracting parties under Article 70 VCLT. Dr Tibisay Morgandi is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Energy and Natural Resources Law at Queen Mary University of London, School of Law. Professor Lorand Bartels is Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge

This lecture is a hybrid event. Just over a year ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought public comments on a bold and thoughtfully framed rule proposal for the enhancement and standardization of climate-related disclosure. It was a move that signaled to many that the US was finally responding to the global shift amongst investors and asset managers toward the integration of ESG data into fundamental value analysis. Today, however, as ESG issues in the US have become politically polarized and as litigation challenges loom large, the possibility of meaningful change appears more remote. Now is therefore an ideal time to spotlight the new ESG disclosure requirements in the UK and EU and, against this backdrop, to refute the claim that ESG disclosure involves “major questions” that transcend the SEC’s longstanding and clear authority to impose new reporting requirements on publicly traded companies. The UK and EU experiences likewise provide valuable perspectives in connection with other hot-button issues in the US, including: closing the public-private disclosure gap, broadening the traditional concept of materiality, and imposing mandates that require real-time disclosure as opposed to disclosure primarily at periodic intervals. Donna M. Nagy is the C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

Lecture Summary: This lecture will discuss recent developments in the UN Climate Regime, focusing in particular on the mismatch between the increasing emphasis on temperature goals and target-setting under the Paris Agreement and its treatment of equity and fairness in delivering these goals and targets. Lavanya Rajamani is a Professor of International Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and Yamani Fellow in Public International Law, St Peter's College, Oxford. Prof Rajamani will be giving the lecture online but you are most welcome to attend in-person in the Berkowitz/Finley Room at the Lauterpacht Centre if you wish. There is a sandwich lunch in the Old Library from 12.30 pm. The Lauterpacht Centre Friday lecture series is kindly supported by Cambridge University Press

This is an in-person event only. Lecture summary: The world is facing profound geopolitical challenges. Across the globe wars rage, competition intensifies and tensions rise. In our interconnected world few remain unaffected by conflict and aggression. In this talk Ian Park seeks to identify the greatest threats to global security and considers the role international law and armed forces might play in mitigating this threat. Ian Park is a Captain in the Royal Navy and a barrister. He has served in seven ships and deployed worldwide in support of the Royal Navy’s contribution to defence. He has also deployed as a legal adviser on operations to Afghanistan and, on many occasions, to the Middle East. Ian is, or has been, a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School, a Hudson Fellow at Oxford University, a First Sea Lord’s Fellow, and a Freeman of the City of London.

This in-person event, with an option to attend online, has been rescheduled from 9 May 2023. Chaired by Professor Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan and Dr Andrew Sanger On Tuesday 30 May 2023, the Lauterpacht Centre will host an inter-disciplinary panel discussion on reparations for slavery that focuses on the responsibility of private actors who benefited from—or were otherwise involved in—slavery. It will explore Haiti’s 1825 indemnification as a case study. As recent attempts to obtain reparations from private actors demonstrate (e.g., the Drax case in Barbados), there are many challenging questions of law and responsibility still to be resolved. These include the impact of time on liability/reparations (manifesting itself in legal doctrines of limitations, acquiesce etc), the difficulty of identifying substantive law for liability (and related questions of inter-temporality and the role of national institutions in developing legal liability), the challenge of identifying the relationship between the private actor and the enslavement that took place, the role of international law in such claims, and the relationship between the private actors and the state. The Panel will use Haiti's 1825 indemnification as a unique case study to explore the above- mentioned challenges. In 1825, France demanded—with warships—a 150-million-franc indemnity (reduced in 1838 to 90 million) to settle claims over property, which included people emancipated through the Haitian Revolution, in exchange for diplomatic recognition of Haitian independence and an end to French threats of invasion. To meet this demand, Haiti took significant loans from the French Bank Crédit Industriel et Commercial , with remainder of the debt eventually being moved to the US and US banks (e.g. to the National City Bank of New York—now Citibank. Imposed by abusive force, these debts inflicted crippling damage to the Haitian economy and the Haitian people over many years and yet the question(s) of reparations by state and private actors remains unresolved.

Speakers: Dr Kabir Duggal (Columbia Law School) Amanda Lee (Costigan King) Chair: Maxence Rivoire For further information please email: arbitration@cambridgesu.co.uk

From 2009 to 2014, Baroness Catherine Ashton was the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. She faced the challenge of representing the views and values of 28 nations during one of the most turbulent periods, from Russia’s invasion of Crimea to the Iran nuclear negotiations. All welcome to attend. Chair: Professor Marc Weller

Lecture summary: International economic law binds the state in relation to markets – most prominently with respect to cross-border trade in goods and services (trade) and the cross-border flow of capital (investment). The core tension to be managed in treaty design involves the balance between economic disciplines and the sovereign’s reserved regulatory authority – between liberalization and policy space. The trade regime has been fairly successful in striking this balance, while the investment regime has been less so. As a result, a natural tendency among reformers has been to look to trade for lessons and solutions to the challenges of investment treaties. This lecture considers why mechanisms that have worked in the former context have proven unworkable in the latter, and what that means for design going forward. Julian Arato is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School. His scholarly expertise spans the areas of public international law, international economic law, and private law. A sandwich lunch is available for all attendees from 12.30 pm in the Old Library.

Apologies but due to industrial action these lecture dates have been rearranged for a second time to the following times below. You will need to re-register online for these revised times. A series of three lectures by Dr. B.S.Chimni, distinguished Professor of International Law, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India. 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm Sandwich Lunch in the Old Library for attendees 2.00 pm - 3.00 pm Tues 14 March Lecture 1: Mapping the Terrain Refreshment break 3.30 pm - 4.30 pm Tues 14 March Lecture 2: Exploring Nexus Refreshment break 5.00 pm - 6.00 pm Tues 14 March Lecture 3: Reframing Doctrines 6.15 pm - 7.00 pm Tues 14 March Q&A There is limited capacity in the Berkowitz/Finley Lecture Hall. Please arrive early to secure your place and to avoid disappointment. 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.

Lecture summary: The lecture will explore the extent to which key normative and institutional responses to the challenges raised by the digital age are compatible with, or interact with, changes in key features of the existing international human rights law (IHRL) framework. Furthermore, it will be claimed that the IHRL framework is already changing, partly due to its interaction with digital human rights. This moving normative landscape creates new opportunities for promoting human rights in the digital age, but might also raise new concerns about the political acceptability of IHRL. Professor Yuval Shany is the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in International Law and former Dean of the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a member of the UN Human Rights Committee from 2013 to 2020 and served for one year during that time as Chair of the Committee. He serves, at present, as a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and as the head of the CyberLaw program of the Hebrew University CyberSecurity Research Center. He is also serving this years as the co-director of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies at King’s College, London. Available pre-lecture reading materials: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4270794 A sandwich lunch is available for all attendees from 12.30 pm in the Old Library.