1400-1415 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Tjaco van den Hout, Secretary-General, Permanent Court of Arbitration
Nico Schrijver, Professor, University of Leiden
Georges Abi-Saab, Chair, PICT Steering Committee
Philippe Sands, Director, Project on International Courts and Tribunals
1415-1545 SESSION I – AN INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM?
Moderator: Ruth Mackenzie, Deputy Director, Centre for International Courts and Tribunals,
University College London
1545-1600 TEA AND COFFEE
1600-1730 SESSION II – TO COURT OR ARBITRATION?
Moderator: Philippe Sands QC, Professor of Law; Director, Centre for International Courts and
Tribunals, University College London
1730-1900 RECEPTION
Hosted by the Permanent Court of Arbitration Foyer of the new Academy Building
1930 DINNER
Restaurant Gember, Stadhouderslaan 43, The Hague
Co-sponsored by Oxford University Press and the Project on International Courts and Tribunals
Speaker: Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor, Daily Telegraph ; former BBC Legal Correspondent
(1985-2000)
0900-1015 SESSION III – NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS – DEFERENCE OR DISDAIN?
Moderator: Yuval Shany, Associate Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
1015-1030 TEA AND COFFEE
1030-1145 SESSION IV – CAN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS DELIVER JUSTICE?
Moderator: Thordis Ingadottir, Associate Professor, University of Reykjavik
1145-1245 A CONVERSATION WITH JUDGE ROSALYN HIGGINS, PRESIDENT,
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
1245-1400 LUNCH
1400-1500 SESSION V – THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE: TOO POWERFUL OR NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH?
Moderator: Cesare Romano, Associate Professor, Loyola Law School Los Angeles
1515-1530 TEA AND COFFEE
1530-1645 WHERE NEXT FOR INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS?
Moderator: Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Professor, University of Geneva
1645 CLOSE
SESSION I - AN INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM?
Moderator: Ruth Mackenzie, Deputy Director, Centre for
International Courts and Tribunals, University College London
• To what extent have concerns about possible fragmentation of international law as a result of the multiplication of international tribunals been realized in the last decade? How have tribunals sought to deal with any such concerns, and how might they do so in future?
• Is there any need for consideration of further general or specific rules to regulate potential overlaps of jurisdiction among international courts and tribunals? To what extent have such overlaps been a problem in practice in the last decade? Does the decision of the UNCLOS
Annex VII MOX Plant arbitral tribunal – suspending its proceedings and citing considerations of mutual respect and comity among judicial institutions – represent an appropriate general approach to cases where issues of concurrent or competing jurisdiction arise?
• How far has the array of international courts progressed towards becoming an “international judiciary” in the last decade? To what extent has there been an emergence of common procedural rules or approaches? What mechanisms exist for communication and exchange of information among judges from different international courts and tribunals? Are any additional mechanisms required, and, if so, what form might they take?
SESSION II – TO COURT OR TO ARBITRATION?
Moderator: Philippe Sands QC, Professor of Law;
Director, Centre for International Courts and Tribunals,
University College London
• Increasingly, states and other international actors have a choice between different means of dispute settlement.
What factors influence the choice? Is arbitration particularly suitable for certain types of international disputes?
• What, if any, are the long term implications of the increased resort to arbitration for the ICJ and ITLOS?
Are changes to procedural rules inevitable?
• What lessons are to be drawn from the arbitration experience under the ICSID rules, where arbitration tribunals have given irreconcilably different answers to the same issues of fact and law relating to Argentina’s economic turmoil in 2001?
SESSION III – NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS:
DEFERENCE OR DISDAIN?
Moderator: Yuval Shany, Associate Professor, Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
• What weight, if any should international courts accord to factual holdings of national courts? And to interpretations by national courts of international law texts or norms? Are the doctrines of lis alibi pendens or res judicata applicable in the relationship between national and international proceedings?
• What lessons can one draw from the experience of human rights courts, such as the ECHR in reviewing national court decisions? Is the margin of appreciation doctrine a model that could work outside the specific field of human rights?
• From the perspective of national courts, are they obliged to follow international court decisions, which they deem erroneous (a problem raised in the US
Supreme Court 2006 decision in Sanchez Llamas ), or that conflict with fundamental domestic notions of justice (as the German Solange cases illustrate)? Are there, in other words, limits to the deference due to international courts by their national counterparts?
SESSION IV – CAN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS
DELIVER JUSTICE?
Moderator: Thordis Ingadottir, Associate Professor,
University of Reykjavik.
• Have international criminal tribunals fulfilled their ultimate mandate – restoring peace and bringing justice to victims?
• Without doubt, international criminal tribunals have developed and revitalized international criminal law.
Has this development been harmonious between different international criminal courts, and has it benefited national proceedings?
• States have been given the primary responsibility for prosecution of international crimes. This is reflected in the principle of complementarity of the International
Criminal Court, and recent prosecution policies of international criminal tribunals to take on few cases.
Is the national jurisdiction able and willing to take on this task?
• In the last decade the International Court of Justice has dealt with over twenty cases relating to international criminal law. Some of these cases stem from the same situations as are being dealt with by international criminal courts. This interrelation will only continue.
States parties to the International Criminal Court will most likely reach an agreement on the definition of aggression at the ICC review conference in 2010, triggering the ICC jurisdiction on that crime. How are we to view this parallel judicial function? As positive complementary jurisdictions or exposure to fragmentation of international law?
SESSION V – THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE: TOO POWER-
FUL OR NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH?
Moderator: Cesare Romano, Associate Professor, Loyola
Law School Los Angeles.
• Both in the United States and Europe, some claim that international judges have become too powerful.
At stake, they say, are the concepts of sovereignty, mational identity and freedom. Critics have portrayed international judges as cosmopolitan radicals riding roughshod over unwilling nations and peoples in their rush to impose an ill-defined set of “common values”.
At the same time, others claim international judges are not powerful enough. For all of their reach, the effectiveness of international judges depends ultimately on the faith and trust of powerful nations, leaving courts vulnerable to the vagaries of international politics. Are means of selection of international judges appropriate given the growing significance of international courts and tribunals?
• Should international judges contribute to the making of international law at all considering how they are selected and the unresolved ethical and independence issues?
• What does it mean to be an international judge? How is it different from being a national judge? What is the scope of the international judicial function?
• What has been, is and will be the contribution of international judges to the making of international law?
CLOSING SESSION – WHERE NEXT FOR INTERNATIONAL
COURTS AND TRIBUNALS?
Moderator: Laurence Boisson de Chazournes,
Professor, University of Geneva.
• Have we reached the end of the 'multiplication' of international courts? Is there a need for more? If so, in which sectors, for what and for whom?
• Do we need specialized chambers in courts and tribunals of general competence? Are they limits to the
"specialization" phenomenon in the area of international adjudication?
• What is and what will be the role of non-state actors in international dispute settlement?
• What should be the ideal profile of the international judiciary in 25 years from now?

(as of November 13, 2007)
Professor Georges Abi-Saab , Member, WTO Appellate
Body; Emeritus Professor, Graduate Institute of
International Studies (HEI), Geneva; Former Judge,
Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal
Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda;
Chair, PICT Steering Committee
Dr. Jessica Almqvist , M. García-Pelayo Fellow, Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales (CEPC),
Madrid, Spain; Former Research Associate, PICT
Ms. Kate Barber , Administrator, Centre for
International Courts and Tribunals, University College
London; PICT
Judge Carl Baudenbacher, President, European Free
Trade Agreement (EFTA) Court; Professor of Civil,
Commercial and Business Law, Faculty of Law,
University of St. Gallen
Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes ,
Professor of International Law and Director of the
Department of Public International Law and
International Organization, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva; Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of
International Studies (HEI), Geneva; Member, PICT
Steering Committee
Dr. Chester Brown , Assistant Legal Adviser, Foreign &
Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom
Mr. Rod Bundy , Partner, Eversheds
Professor David Caron , C. William Maxeiner
Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California,
Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law
Dr. Jean D’Aspremont , Lecturer, Faculty of Law,
Leiden University
Professor John Dugard , Member, International Law
Commission; Chair in Public International Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University
Justice George Gelaga King , President, Special Court for Sierra Leone
Judge Gilbert Guillaume , Former President,
International Court of Justice
Professor Lawrence Helfer , Professor of Law,
Vanderbilt University Law School
Judge Rosalyn Higgins , President, International Court of Justice
Professor Thordis Ingadottir , Associate Professor,
Faculty of Law, Reykjavik University; PICT
Sir Kenneth Keith, ONZ KBE QC , Judge, International
Court of Justice
Dr. Jann Kleffner , Assistant Professor of International
Law, Amsterdam Center for International Law, Faculty of
Law, University of Amsterdam
Ms. Edda Kristjansdottir , Researcher, Amsterdam
Center for International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam
Professor Dr. Pieter-Jan Kuijper , Professor,
Amsterdam Center for International Law, Faculty of Law,
University of Amsterdam; former European Commission
Principal Legal Advisor for External Relations; Former
Director, Legal Service of the WTO
Dr. Nikolaos Lavranos , Assistant Professor,
Amsterdam Center for International Law, Faculty of Law,
University of Amsterdam
Mr. John Louth , Commissioning Editor, Academic and
Scholarly Law Publishing, Oxford University Press
Ms. Ruth Mackenzie , Deputy Director and Principal
Research Fellow, Centre for International Courts and
Tribunals, University College London; PICT
Professor Kate Malleson , Professor of Law, School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London
Ms. Penny Martin , Research Fellow, Centre for
International Courts and Tribunals, University College
London; PICT
Judge Thomas Mensah , Former President,
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Professor Dr. André Nollkaemper , Professor of Public
International Law and Director of the Amsterdam Center for
International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam
Judge Fatsah Ouguergouz , Judge, African Court on
Human and Peoples’ Rights
Professor Antonio Parra , Secretary-General,
International Council for Commercial Arbitration; Visiting
Professor, Faculty of Laws, University College London, former Deputy Secretary-General of the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
Professor Joost Pauwelyn, Professor of International
Economic Law and WTO Law, Graduate Institute of
International Studies (HEI), Geneva
Professor Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann , Professor of
International and European Law, Law Department,
European University Institute
Professor Monica Pinto , Professor of Law, Faculty of
Law and Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires;
PICT Steering Committee
Judge Fausto Pocar, President, International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Professor Eric Posner , Kirkland and Ellis Professor of
Law, University of Chicago Law School
Professor Cesare Romano , Associate Professor of
Law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles; PICT
Judge Allan Rosas , Judge, European Court of Justice;
PICT Steering Committee
Mr. Joshua Rozenberg , Legal Editor, The
Daily Telegraph
Professor Giorgio Sacerdoti , Chair, WTO Appellate
Body; Professor of International Law and European Law,
Bocconi University
Professor Philippe Sands QC , Professor of Law;
Director, Centre for International Courts and Tribunals,
University College London; PICT
Professor Nico Schrijver , Professor of Public
International Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University,
Head of International Law Department
Judge Mohamed Shahabudeen , Judge, International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Dr. Yuval Shany , Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in
International Law, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem; PICT
Judge Bruno Simma , Judge, International Court of
Justice; PICT Steering Committee
Mr. Thomas Skouteris , Lecturer, Faculty of Law,
Leiden University
Ms. Lizzie Stephenson , Marketing Manager, Academic
Law, Oxford University Press
Professor Daniel Terris, Director, International
Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life,
Brandeis University
Judge Tullio Treves , Judge, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Professor of International Law,
University of Milan; PICT Steering Committee
Ms. Lemonia Tsaroucha , PhD Candidate, Faculty of
Laws, University College London; PICT
Judge Nina Vajic , Judge, European Court of Human
Rights; PICT Steering Committee
Mr. Eduardo Valencia Ospina , Member, International
Law Commission; former Registrar, International Court of Justice; PICT Steering Committee
Dr. Larissa van den Herik , Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Leiden University
Mr. Tjaco van den Hout , Secretary-General,
Permanent Court of Arbitration
Judge Ricardo Vigil Toledo , President, Court of
Justice of the Andean Community
Ms. Marieke Wierda , Senior Associate, International
Center for Transitional Justice
Justice Jacob Wit , Judge, Caribbean Court of Justice
Sir Michael Wood KCMG , 20 Essex Street; Senior
Fellow, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law,
University of Cambridge; Former Legal Adviser to the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Project on International Courts and Tribunals
(PICT) was launched in 1997, by the Center on
International Cooperation at New York University and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and
Development, to map the rapidly expanding range of international judicial bodies, and to explore the legal and institutional implications of their coexistence. In
October 1998, PICT co-sponsored a conference at New
York University Law School entitled The Proliferation of International Tribunals: Piecing Together the
Puzzle . The conference explored whether there was, or should be, a unified international legal system, and the role of international tribunals in building such a system.
It also examined connections and conflicts in the jurisdiction, jurisprudence, and function of the various international judicial bodies.
The conference takes place in the Academy Hall at the
Peace Palace, commencing at 2p.m. on Friday 30
November. Discussions will take place primarily in a round-table and conversational format. There are no formal presentations or designated speakers. Associates of
PICT will moderate discussions and all participants are encouraged to play an active role. To encourage an open and frank discussion, the conference will be conducted under the Chatham House (i.e. non-attribution) rule.
Five main themes or issues are identified:
We are now meeting in The Hague to revisit the themes addressed in New York in 1998 and to consider related issues. Our discussions will assess the answers provided by a multitude of international legal scholars, take stock of a decade of developments in the field, and look to future issues and challenges.
The conference marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of PICT, and coincides with the centenary of the signing of the 1907 Hague Convention for the
Pacific Settlement of Disputes. The conference will also see the launch of three new titles in the Oxford
University Press International Courts and Tribunals series, which is edited by PICT.
• SESSION I: AN INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM?
• SESSION II: TO COURT OR TO ARBITRATION?
• SESSION III: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
COURTS – DEFERENCE OR DISDAIN?
• SESSION IV: CAN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS
DELIVER JUSTICE?
• SESSION V: THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE: TOO
POWERFUL OR NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH?
A final session will wrap up discussions and will seek to map future directions for research on and practice of international courts and tribunals.
Any participants who wish to prepare, or who have written, contributions are encouraged to submit them for publication in a special conference issue of the Loyola of Los Angeles International & Comparative Law
Review (Vol. 30.3, 2008).
THE ORGANIZERS
The conference is organized by PICT, through:
• Centre for International Courts and Tribunals,
University College London
• Loyola Law School Los Angeles
• Center on International Cooperation,
New York University in cooperation with:
• Permanent Court of Arbitration
• Grotius Centre at the University of Leiden for
International Legal Studies, Leiden University/
Campus The Hague
Financial support for this conference has been provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
(through a grant to PICT-Center on International
Cooperation, NYU); the Loyola Law School Los Angeles and the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London. Additional support for conference events has kindly been provided by the
Permanent Court of Arbitration, Oxford University Press, and the Carnegie Foundation The Hague.
PICT
PICT was jointly established in 1997 by the Center on
International Cooperation (CIC), at New York University, and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), at the School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London. PICT’s founding directors were Philippe Sands and Shepard Forman.
Today, PICT's substantive agenda is primarily conducted by Philippe Sands and Ruth MacKenzie at the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals, University
College London; Cesare Romano at Loyola Law School
Los Angeles; Thordis Ingadottir at University of
Reykjavik; and Yuval Shany at Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. They work with a network of other academics, practitioners, and institutions throughout the world sharing common research and policy interests.
For more information on PICT and its activities see: www.pict-pcti.org
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/cict www.aict-acti.org