The 118th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law took place in Washington, DC, from April 3 to April 6. The theme of the Annual Meeting, International Law in an Interdependent World, posed profound questions concerning international law and its continued function, utility, relevance, and capacity to provide solutions in our increasingly complex world. The Annual Meeting program challenged attendees to question their underlying assumptions about international law and to ask themselves what are the current limits of international law, and how can we extend law's reach to meet today's challenges.
For the third year in a row, the Society organized its Global Engagement series of online events in cooperation with our regional colleague societies in Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Offered free of charge to attendees all over the world, the Global Engagement series covered topics of regional significance, such as Gender and Climate Change, Cultural Relativism, and African Union Environmental Treaties.
The Society was proud to have nearly 1,300 participants in attendance at the Annual Meeting. The program covered subjects addressing the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and the future of international humanitarian law, boundary dispute resolution, international labor rights and supply chain regulation, and artificial intelligence and the future of lawmaking.
Wednesday, April 3, began with the spring meeting of the Executive Council, which took place at the offices of Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, DC. That evening, the Annual Meeting was officially opened by President Gregory Shaffer who introduced the 26th Grotius Lecture, delivered by Dame Meg Taylor, former Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Her theme was “Sovereignty, Survival and Climate Justice: Legal and Political Frontiers of the Blue Pacific Continent,” and the response was offered by Julian Aguon, Founder of Blue Ocean Law. The traditional Grotius Reception, sponsored by the American University Washington College of Law, followed.
Thursday's program included the Hudson Medal Luncheon, at which Hudson Medal Honoree, José E. Alvarez, Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law at the New York University School of Law, engaged in a lively conversation with Lucy Reed, Arbitration Chambers. Roya Boroumand, founder and Executive Director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, delivered the Goler T. Butcher Medal lecture. There was also a late-breaking panel on “The African Contribution to the International Law of Democracy.”
The Society's Assembly took place on Thursday evening and included the election of our incoming leaders, the presentation of the honors and awards of the Society, recognition of new Emeritus Members, and the commemoration of members lost over the past year, including special tributes to Thomas Buergenthal, Benjamin B. Ferencz, and Ved Prakash Nanda. Justice Rosalie Abella, the Samuel and Judith Pisar Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, gave a moving Assembly Keynote Address highlighting her family's personal history of the Holocaust. The Assembly concluded with announcements from President Shaffer and the passing of the gavel to newly elected President Mélida N. Hodgson, the Society's first Black Latina president.
Friday morning, the newly constituted Executive Council met to elect new members of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of International Law and the Editorial Advisory Committee of International Legal Materials, and to conduct other business. Substantive sessions continued throughout the day, including the Ninth Annual Detlev F. Vagts Roundtable, which was on the subject “Preserving Cultural Heritage and Protecting Humanity in Conflict Zones: A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Heritage Protection and Civilian Protection.” Friday morning also featured the Twelfth Annual Charles N. Brower Lecture on International Dispute Resolution, delivered by Judge Rosemary Barkett.
Friday afternoon featured a late-breaking panel on the conflict in Gaza and a preview of the documentary film produced during the Society's “Stand Tall for the Rule of Law” Summit in Lviv, Ukraine, which took place in December 2023. The screening was following by a panel discussion reflecting on the Summit and its outcomes.
The Annual Meeting's Saturday program continued with substantive sessions and concluded with the Hague Closing Plenary, featuring a panel focused on “Confronting Impunity and Safeguarding Journalists in a Global Context.”
The Annual Meeting is the product of many dedicated hands, beginning with the extraordinary and hardworking Annual Meeting Committee, led this year by co-chairs Julian Arato, Christina Beharry, and Hannah Garry. I would also like to express my gratitude to the staff of ASIL. I would also like to thank our event planner, Eden Capuano, and her team at Voila! Inc., and our technology partner, Silo Virtual Event Solutions, for their continued partnership
Finally, we thank Erin Lovall, the editor of these Proceedings, and our speakers, sponsors, partners, exhibitors, and registrants who made the 2024 Annual Meeting such a delightful and thought-provoking experience.
