ONLINE BOOK LAUNCH: P. SEAN MORRIS (ed.), The League of Nations and the Development of International Law- Transforming the Politics of International Law (Routledge, 2021/2022) (Helsinki, 16 FEB 2022)

 

(image source: Routledge)

The Erik Castren Institute of International Law at the University of Helsinki organises a digital book launch for two volumes published recently on the League of Nations:

- P. Sean Morris (ed.), The League of Nations and the Development of International Law. A New Intellectual History of the Advisory Committee of Jurists (ISBN 9780367897536)
- P. Sean Morris (ed.), Transforming the Politics of International Law. The Advisory Committee of Jurists and the Formation of the World Court in the League of Nations (ISBN 9780367897512)

This event takes place on 16 February at 4:00 PM Helsinki Time (= 17:00 CEST).

Event description:

Pro­gramme

Opening remarks
Martti Koskenniemi, Emeritus Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki

Why these books, Why Now?
Sean Morris, Grant-funded researcher at the University of Helsinki

International Law and the Interwar: A Comment
Megan Donaldson, Lecturer of Public International law at the University College London

The Advisory Committee of Jurists
Karin van Leeuwen, Assistant Professor in European political history at Maastricht University,
Morten Rasmussen, Associate Professor at the SAXO Institute at the University of Copenhagen

Ricci Busatti and the Advisory Committee
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina, Assistant Professor of Legal History at the Law Faculty of the University of Zurich

Discussion 

To attend the launch, please register via the e-form the latest by 15 January (6 pm EET).
The zoom link will be sent the latest the day before the event.

Book descriptions:

The League of Nations and the Development of International Law: A New Intellectual History of the Advisory Committee of Jurists examines the contributions to International Law of individual members of the Advisory Committee of Jurists in the League of Nations, and the broader national and discursive legal traditions of which they were representative. It adopts a biographical approach that complements existing legal narratives.
Pre-1914 visions of a liberal international order influenced the post-1919 world based on the rule of law in civilised nations. This volume focuses on leading legal personalities of this era. It discusses the scholarly work of the ACJ wise men, their biographical notes, and narrates their contribution as legal scholars and founding fathers of the sources of international law that culminated in their drafting of the statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the forerunner of the International Court of Justice. The book examines visions of world law in a liberal international order through social theory and constructivism, historical examination of key developments that influenced their career and their scholarly writings and international law as a science.

Transforming the Politics of International Law: The Advisory Committee of Jurists and the Formation of the World Court in the League of Nations examines the role of League of Nations committees, particularly the Advisory Committee of Jurists (ACJ) in shaping the statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ). The authors explore the contributions of individual jurists and unofficial members in shaping the League’s international legal machinery.
One of the guiding principles of the book is that the development of international law was a project of politics where the idea and notion of an international society must contend with the political visions of each state represented on the different legal committees in the League of Nations during the drafting of the Covenant. The book constitutes a major contribution to the literature in that it shows the inner workings of some of the legal committees of the League and how the political role of unofficial members was influential for the development of international law in the early twentieth century and how they influenced the political and legal process of the ACJ.

Both volumes can be purchased via the Routledge website. Receive a 20% discount using the code FLY21.

Fill out the form to register. 

(source: University of Helsinki)