International and Comparative Law

During this year’s UN General Assembly, the AUWCL’s Syria Initiative called the attention to the ongoing civil war in Syria. As the conflict in Syria approaches its tenth anniversary in a situation of political deadlock, Syrians continue their struggle for a gleam of hope for peace and justice. More than 5.5 million Syrians are now living as refugees in the region. Another 6.1 million are internally displaced within Syria. The United Nations Special Envoy continues his herculean effort to reconcile warring parties and involve Syrian civil society actors in the peace talks.

On October 30, 2020, just shortly before the U.S. presidential elections, the American University Law Review Federal Circuit Fridays Series organized a panel discussion on the U.S. position on international trade. The panel discussion was moderated by Professor Padideh Ala’i, the Director of International and Comparative Legal Studies and the Trade, Investment and Development Program. Three prominent experts joined the discussion: Kelly Ann Shaw, partner at Hogan Lovells and former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs; Sally Laing, Senior International Trade Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Finance; and Evan Yu, Senior Consultant at C&MM International. The discussion evolved around four major issues: the U.S. relationship with China, the breakdown of multilateralism, the crisis of democracy, and COVID-19.

On behalf of the AUWCL’s Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law’s Anti-Torture Initiative and Impact Litigation Program, various professors and researchers addressed the U.K. Parliament’s Human Rights Committee on September 8, 2020. Professor Juan E. Méndez, together with Vanessa Drummond, Katherine Holcombe, and Stephanie Herrmann, urged Parliamentarians to reject the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill 2019-21. They argued that protecting the right to be free from torture critically depends on States fulfilling their obligations under international law to investigate, prosecute, and punish acts of torture. They feared that the Bill, if enacted, would undermine and inhibit fulfilling these obligations, and urged Parliamentarians to reject that draft legislation.

International commercial arbitration has become the method of choice for commercial relations in Asia. However, it is not clear to what extend it would be possible to say that there exists an arbitration culture in the region, which would presuppose the existence of common institutions and practices. To shed light on this issues, the Center on International Commercial Arbitration brought together prominent arbitration practitioners from various jurisdictions to search for answers to the conference’s question: “Can we Talk of an Arbitration Culture in Asia?” on November 18, 2020. The speakers included Nicholas Peacock, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills; Thomas R. Snider, Partner, Al Tamimi & Company; Jingzhou Tao, Independent Arbitrator; Kevin Nash, Deputy Registrar & Centre Director, Singapore International Arbitration Centre; and Jane Willems, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University School of Law. The Center’s Director, Prof. Horacio Grigera Naón, moderated the event. The event was held in the context of the Event Series on Regional Approaches to International Commercial Arbitration of the AUWCL’s Center on International Commercial Arbitration.

On November 16, 2020, AUWCL, in cooperation with the AU Transatlantic Policy Center, and the Antiracist Research & Policy Center, held a discussion with Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and two Members of the European Parliament, Maria Walsh (European People’s Party, Ireland) and Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana (European Green Party, Germany), discussing reconstruction and racial justice post Covid-19. AUWCL Professor Lia Epperson and School of International Service Professor Garret Martin moderated the discussion. Joe Dunne, the Director of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, D.C. introduced the discussion.

On November 16, 2020, AUWCL, in cooperation with the AU Transatlantic Policy Center, and the Antiracist Research & Policy Center, held a discussion with Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and two Members of the European Parliament, Maria Walsh (European People’s Party Ireland) and Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana (European Green Party, Germany), discussing reconstruction and racial justice post Covid-19. AUWCL Professor Lia Epperson and School of International Service Professor Garret Martin moderated the discussion. Joe Dunne, the Director of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, D.C. introduced the discussion.