ASIL 121st Annual Meeting 2027, Washington DC: Call for Session Ideas (Theme: International Law for the United States and the World)

The American Society of International Law (ASIL) will convene its 121st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. from 14 to 16 April 2027. The ASIL Annual Meeting is one of the world's largest gatherings of leading experts in the field of international law, routinely drawing more than 1,000 attendees to Washington, DC.

The ASIL Annual Meeting Committee, chaired by Jean Galbraith, Rebecca Hamilton and Peter Tzeng, is now inviting the submission of session ideas for the 2027 programme. Note that this is a call for session ideas and formats, not for full papers.

In 1907, ASIL's founding president Elihu Root wrote an essay for the first volume of the American Journal of International Law, emphasising the need for a just and considerate spirit among national leaders in their regard for the rights of other countries. Strengthening the commitment of peoples and nations to international law was, he believed, central to this enterprise.

The 2027 theme returns to that foundational wisdom and asks what international law can do for the interests of the United States and the world, and how international law can be an effective constraint for the United States and the world. The organisers frame these questions at a crucial moment in world affairs: the United States played a pivotal role in establishing the current international legal order, but its present approach to international law and institutions has put that order under strain, and other countries have also questioned the value of international law for the international community at large. At the same time, international law continues to operate effectively in many spheres, and people around the world are finding creative ways to advance justice through it.

Sessions that are selected will be assigned to one of the following six tracks:

• Peace and Security, Armed Conflict, and International Criminal Law
• Adjudication and Dispute Resolution
• Trade, Investment, and Finance
• Global Governance, Oceans, and Space
• Human Rights, Environment, and Migration
• Additional and Cross-Cutting Perspectives

The programme co-chairs invite submissions from anyone with an interest in international law, including lawyers, policymakers and academics, and welcome proposals from diverse sectors, disciplines and perspectives.

Submissions are expressly encouraged from both within the United States and abroad, and on topics relating to the United States as well as topics that do not concern the United States at all. There is no requirement of United States residence, bar membership or ASIL membership stated for submitting an idea.

Drawing on the submitted ideas, the Committee will create a programme with the following goals in mind:

• coverage of a breadth of timely topics of interest to ASIL members;
• participation by individuals from a variety of backgrounds; and
• a vibrant exchange of ideas through the use of innovative programme formats.

The Committee will prioritise ideas that use formats other than traditional panels, such as interviews, question-and-answer roundtables, lectures, debates, or the use of multimedia or interactive audience participation features. It will also prioritise novel or cutting-edge topics in international law, and is committed to expanding diversity in the issues and voices represented at the Annual Meeting.

ASIL asks submitters to read this carefully before applying. Given the number of submissions expected, the inevitable similarities between some proposals, and the goals and themes articulated, not all session ideas can be accepted into the programme as submitted.

The Committee reserves, and regularly exercises, the right to accept but significantly modify submissions. This may result in omitting proposed speakers (including the author), adding new speakers, combining multiple submissions, or modifying a session's description, focus or goals. ASIL states that it is unlikely the author will be contacted regarding their submitted idea. Submitters must confirm on the form that they understand the Committee has complete creative control over all ideas once submitted.

Session ideas are submitted through the online Idea Submission form hosted on the ASIL Annual Meeting page. The form asks for:

• Submitter information: name, organisation and email;
• Suggested track, chosen from the six tracks listed above;
• Idea title and idea description, describing the idea for the Committee to consider;
• Potential speakers, with the caveat that submitters should not contact any potential speakers in advance, as ASIL follows strict guidelines on speaker selection and there is no guarantee that proposed speakers will be approached;
• Specific suggestions on how the idea would be presented, including case studies, questions and any upcoming events that would make the session timely; and
• Acknowledgement of the Committee's creative control.

JavaScript must be enabled in the browser to complete the form.

The deadline stated by ASIL is 5pm ET, Wednesday, August 5. The year is not printed alongside the date on the organiser's page; 5 August falls on a Wednesday in 2026, and the call was posted ahead of the April 2027 meeting, so the operative deadline is 5 August 2026. Applicants planning to submit close to the cut-off should note the 5pm ET clock, which corresponds to the early hours of 6 August in India.