Call for Papers: 2027 ESIL Annual Conference, International Law and Future(s), Lisbon [in person; 9-11 Sep 2027]

The 22nd Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) will be hosted by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon from 9-11 September 2027. The general theme is “International Law and Future(s)”: what future lies ahead for international law, and what international law do we want for the future? All those engaged with international law, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers and other professionals, are invited to submit proposals.

Against a backdrop of profound geopolitical change, mounting challenges to multilateralism, climate and environmental threats, rapid technological advances and artificial intelligence, shifting economic power and growing polarization, the conference invites the international law community to look ahead. The call points to four developments:

• Threats to the survival of humankind, from the increasing use of force and human rights violations to climate change, loss of biodiversity, emerging technological and AI risks, the uneven distribution of critical natural resources and strains on the international trade system created since 1945.
• Different actors understand these threats and risks differently.
• The erosion of multilateralism and its institutions asks us to rethink current rules and principles for a different international society, with a new balance of power, distribution of wealth and regulatory needs.
• Polarized societies find it harder to reach consensus or even to keep channels of dialogue open, which raises the question of what future(s) the international community wants collectively and which core values should underlie the rules and principles of international law.

The conference will convene twelve agorae, thematically grouped in three clusters. Authors choose one agora only.

Cluster 1, The Future of “Rules”:

• Agora 1: Building Back Better the Rules on the Use of Force? The rules set since 1945 are being challenged by increasing resort to force, tests of self-defense and humanitarian intervention, hybrid warfare, limits of neutrality and new war technologies.
• Agora 4: Disruption in the Age of AI and Emerging Technologies. AI, (semi-)autonomous weapons, cyber operations, deep seabed mining and geoengineering test current rules; is international law well equipped to regulate and control risk?
• Agora 7: International Legal Rules in Contact with Other Disciplines. What is the place of non-legal sciences in international law, and are international lawyers prepared for ever-more specialized non-legal knowledge?
• Agora 10: open for submissions of interest groups.

Cluster 2, The Future of “Institutions”:

• Agora 2: A Shrinking Room for International Organizations? What role can be envisaged for international organizations as unilateralism gains ground?
• Agora 5: Multilateral Regimes at Risk: The International Trade System and Beyond. Tariffs, export restraints and preferential trade agreements, the role of the World Trade Organization, the legality of trade restrictions under international law and new forms of economic governance.
• Agora 8: Digital Sovereignty in the 21st Century: Need but Mirage? Control over infrastructures, data and software, adjudication and enforcement, and whether the quest for digital sovereignty is needed and how to pursue it.
• Agora 11: open for submissions of interest groups.

Cluster 3, The Future of “Humanity”:

• Agora 3: Humor on Trial: A Case about Free Thought and Free Speech in a Polarised World. How international law can contribute to the debate on the limits of humour, free thought and free speech.
• Agora 6: The Space Race: Challenges and Uses of the Outer Space. Commercialisation, trade and intellectual property considerations, space debris, militarisation, and future challenges such as tourism, mining and settlement.
• Agora 9: Critical Minerals, Natural Resources, and Energy Safety. Who holds the resources, how they are extracted, the safety of energy sources, the Common Heritage of Humankind under UNCLOS and ESG Regulations along the supply chain.
• Agora 12: Climate Law as a Promise of Future. The law of reparations, loss and damage and climate finance, a regulatory framework for geoengineering, and States' due diligence obligations.

Proposals are welcome in French or English. Only one abstract per author will be considered. Joint submissions are possible, but a reduced registration fee applies to only one of the selected speakers. Scholars who have not spoken at previous ESIL events are particularly encouraged to apply; submissions from those who were selected or invited speakers at the most recent Annual Conference might be regarded as ineligible.

The programme committee, made up of the agora Chair and representatives of the ESIL Board and the host institution, assesses abstracts on:

• Originality and innovative nature of the work.
• Originality and innovative nature of the presentation (for example videos, animation, installations).
• Relevance to one of the agora themes.
• Relevance to the overall conference theme of “International Law and Future(s)”.
• Diversity criteria, in accordance with the ESIL Statement of Principles on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and the ESIL Guidelines for the Diversity of Conference and Panel Speakers.

Proposals must be submitted online via the conference website www.esil2027.com. The website has an online tool used for the selection process and for all communication between the organizers and applicants. The following is required:

• The agora for which the paper should be considered (one agora only).
• An abstract of not more than 500 words, plus a short biography (100 words) included with the abstract.
• The author's name and affiliation.
• The author's contact details, including email address and phone number.
• The author's CV, including a list of relevant publications (max. 800 words). The CV is consulted at a second stage, after review of the abstract, to ensure a balanced panel in line with the ESIL principles on diversity, equality and inclusion.
• Confirmation of ESIL membership, or willingness to join ESIL if the paper is accepted. Speakers presenting a selected paper must have joined ESIL at the latest four weeks after the acceptance notification; otherwise the acceptance is withdrawn in favour of another short-listed submission.
• Whether the abstract should be considered for the ESIL Early-Career Scholar Prize and, if so, the relevant information about eligibility and ESIL membership.

ESIL Interest Groups may submit proposals for agorae, through their conveners via the conference website, by 31 January 2027. A proposal includes:

• The name of the Interest Group and the contact details of the person(s) submitting, including email address and phone number.
• The title of the panel and a description of its overall theme and the insights expected from the discussion.
• The format: panel, roundtable or other. All agorae are scheduled for 1h30 and can have a maximum of 4 participants, for example one chair and three speakers.
• A full set of abstracts of the individual works, with the information required for proposals.
• An explanation of how the proposal was selected. Agora proposals must follow a call for papers sent to all Interest Group members, and the chair and speakers must be ESIL members. The composition must reflect geographical, gender and institutional diversity, and the programme committee may change suggested panels to ensure this.

Selected speakers should submit a first draft of their work (approx. 3,000 words including footnotes) before the conference. The draft is shared with the chair and the other agora speakers to create interaction during the session. The programme committee screens the quality of the drafts and may request amendments.

• Abstract deadline: 31 January 2027
• Notification of results: no later than 31 March 2027
• Deadline for joining ESIL (non-members): 30 April 2027
• Deadline for requesting a travel or carers' grant: 15 June 2027
• Full papers: 1 July 2027
• Conference: 9-11 September 2027
• Optional final papers for the ESIL Proceedings: 1 November 2028

All selected speakers must register for the conference and are eligible for a reduced registration fee. Early registration after acceptance of the paper also results in a lower early bird fee. The call does not give fee amounts.

A limited number of travel grants and carers' grants are available to ESIL members. To be eligible for a grant, ESIL membership is required by the abstract deadline of 31 January 2027, and the deadline for requesting a grant is 15 June 2027. Application details are on the ESIL website. Selected speakers are expected to bear the costs of their own travel and accommodation; the grants offer partial support to speakers who have exhausted other potential sources of funding.

All participants, including speakers and chairs, at ESIL Interest Group workshops must register for the Annual Conference. There is an option to register for the Interest Group workshops only.

The Prize will be awarded again in Lisbon for the best paper submitted to the conference or to a pre-conference Interest Group workshop by a scholar at an early stage in their career. Early-career scholars are:

• candidates for a postgraduate degree in law;
• Ph.D. candidates, or those who had their oral defence no longer than 3 years before submitting an abstract; or
• those within the first 5 years of their career after the award of their last academic degree (other than a Ph.D.).

Candidates must be ESIL members when they submit the abstract. Co-authored articles are considered only if all authors meet the eligibility criteria. Selected speakers who wish to be considered must tell the ESIL Secretariat before 30 April. The call does not state the amount of the Prize.

After the conference, ESIL offers the opportunity to publish papers in the ESIL Proceedings. Details on how to submit papers for publication are given to all speakers immediately after the conference. The deadline for optional final papers is 1 November 2028.

The ESIL Secretariat can be reached at esil.secretariat@eui.eu. The call asks participants to see the ESIL website for all relevant information about the conference.