ILA Malta Conference Current Developments International Law 9 December 2024

The newly established ILA Malta Branch will hold an inaugural conference on 9 December 2024. The half day conference on current developments in international law will explore pressing issues shaping the

international legal landscape today. The panellists will address a variety of contemporary topics including recent trends in international humanitarian and human rights law, international dispute settlement, the

complexities of sovereign immunity, the evolving legal duty to render assistance at sea, key developments in the International Court of Justice on genocide, and the rights of women and girls.

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM Registration and coffee

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Welcome and opening remarks

Frank Bezzina, Professor and Pro-Rector, International Development & Quality Assurance, University of Malta

9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Panel discussion current developments in international law: challenges and key trends part I

Moderator: Omar Grech, Associate Professor of International Law, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta

Christine Chinkin FBA, Emerita Professor of International Law, Professorial Research Fellow and Founding Director of the Centre of Women Peace & Security at London School Economics, Chair of the International Law Association, ‘ICJ provisional measures: a useful tool for upholding the international rule of law?’.

Maria Gavouneli, Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law and Athens Public International Law Center – Athens PIL, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, President of the International Law Association, ‘Rule of law or lawfare? - The role of international courts and tribunals and international crises’.

Dr. Christopher Ward SC, 6 St James Hall Chambers, Sydney and 3 Verulam Buildings Barristers, London, Honorary Professor, Australian National University, ‘Sovereign immunity and intra EU arbitrations’.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM Coffee break

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Panel discussion current developments in international law: challenges and key trends part II

Madeleine Bridgett, Barrister, 6 St James Hall Chambers, Sydney, Australia, ‘Protecting the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan: can international law make a difference?’

Patricia Vella de Fremeaux, Professor of International Law and Head of Department, Faculty of Laws and

Felicity G. Attard, Lecturer in International Law, University of Malta, ‘The duty to render assistance at sea: legal frameworks and current developments’.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Q&A session

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Closing remarks by Dr. André Zerafa, Managing Partner, Ganado Advocates

1:30 PM Networking lunch

 This event is sponsored by Ganado Advocates. For further information on the the event, please contact Dr Felicity Attard felicity.attard@um.edu.mt