Call for Papers: The International Legality of Economic Activities in Occupied Territories?

The T.M.C. Asser Institute, the Centre for the Law of EU External Relations (CLEER) and The Hague University of Applied Sciences, under the aegis of The Hague Academic Coalition (HAC), invite submissions of abstracts for a workshop on the ‘International Legality of Economic Activities in Occupied Territories?’. The workshop will take place at the Asser Institute in The Hague, on 17 October 2018.

Workshop Theme: Recent developments have brought to the fore the question of the lawfulness of economic activities in occupied territories. Many States, NGOs and scholars maintain that international law prohibits economic dealings with occupying States that extend to territories under their control. Still, the legal framework governing the lawfulness of such dealings remains unclear. In this light, this workshop aims to explore the legality of economic activities in occupied territories.

Abstracts are invited that address one or more of the following aspects:

• The duty of non-recognition and its application to occupied territories;
• The legality of exploring and exploiting the natural resources of occupied territories;
• The international responsibility of States and IOs for concluding trade agreements covering occupied territories;
• The EU’s approach towards occupied territories;
• The legality of private actors’ economic activity in occupied territories;
• The soft-law framework (e.g. UN Guiding Principles, corporate codes of conduct, certification schemes) affecting private actors’ economic activity in occupied territories;
• The extent to which international law obliges home States to regulate the conduct of private actors doing business in occupied territories.

 The abstracts should contain a one-page (500 words max.) description of the proposed paper and are to be accompanied by a CV of the author/s.  The abstracts are to be sent to the workshop organisers Antoine Duval (a.duval@asser.nl); Eva Kassoti (E.Kassoti@hhs.nl); Enrico Partiti (e.partiti@asser.nl) by 15 May 2018. Successful applicants will be notified by 31 May 2018. The proposed paper must not cover previously published work. The complete papers (10.000-12.000 words) must be submitted by 15  September in order to be communicated to the other participants in the workshop. It is the intention of the organisers to seek publication of the papers in the CLEER papers subject to applicable peer review processes. Limited travel grants of up to 200 euros as well as one night of accommodation will be offered to successful applicants who do not have institutional support. Please set out in clear terms in your submission e-mail whether such financial support is needed.