Call for Nominations: 2027 ASIL Book Awards (Certificates of Merit & Robert E. Dalton Award) by the American Society of International Law
American Society of International Law (ASIL).About the ASIL Book Awards
The American Society of International Law confers four annual book awards on works of international law scholarship. Three are Certificates of Merit and the fourth is the Robert E. Dalton Award. The Society’s Book Awards Committee has opened nominations for the 2027 awards, which are presented at ASIL’s Annual Meeting. The awards are governed by the Regulation on the Book Awards Committee and by the Committee’s Call for Nominations.
The 2026-2027 Book Awards Committee
Nominations for the 2027 awards are being received and assessed by a Committee of seven:
- Ed Swaine (Chair)
- Dan Bodansky
- Adrien Wing
- Janina Dill
- Valerie Oosterveld
- Laura Dickinson
- Paul Stephan
Who may nominate, and how many books
Nominations are made by publishers. A publisher may nominate up to ten books for the Certificates of Merit and up to three books for the Robert E. Dalton Award. ASIL states no restriction of nationality, jurisdiction or place of publication for the books nominated, and the 2026 awards went to titles from Pretoria University Law Press and Oxford University Press alike.
Which books are eligible
Every nominated book must have been published before 1 October 2026 and not earlier than 1 February 2025. Books falling outside that publication window are not eligible for the 2027 cycle.
How to nominate
- ASIL will accept electronic books for consideration. Publishers should email e-books to awardsandhonors@asil.org.
- Publishers must also send at least one physical paper copy of each nominated book to ASIL’s headquarters, and it must arrive by the 1 October 2026 deadline for the nomination to be eligible.
- Publishers will additionally mail a copy to any Committee member who is unable to read e-books, or where the book is not available as an e-book.
Where to send physical copies
American Society of International Law
ASIL Book Awards Committee
2223 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
United States of America
The 2026 winners, for reference
- Certificate of Merit for a preeminent contribution to creative scholarship: Micha Wiebusch, A Theory on Africanizing International Law (Pretoria University Law Press, 2024)
- Certificate of Merit for high technical craftsmanship and utility to lawyers and scholars: Andreas Kulick and Michael Waibel (eds), General International Law in International Investment Law: A Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2024)
- Certificate of Merit in a specialized area of international law: Amrita Bahri, Trade Agreements and Women: Transcending Barriers (Oxford University Press, 2025)
- Robert E. Dalton Award: Allison Powers, Arbitrating Empire: United States Expansion and the Transformation of International Law (Oxford University Press, 2025)