Trust and Deference between Legal Authorities in the World

Trust and deference are crucial mechanisms of interaction and cooperation between legal authorities in the World. For the purpose of this workshop, deference means that an authority does not make its own assessment or decision in a particular matter but relies on the judgment of another authority. The basis for this deference is trust in the second authority. It ultimately means that the deferring authority puts its trust in the authority it defers to. It has trust that the second authority makes a correct decision in matters of fact and law, especially the rule of law.

This workshop complements a first workshop hosted by the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance of the University of Amsterdam in June 2018 on Trust and Deference between Legal Authorities in Europe. Our aim is to study the operation of trust-based legal interactions between authorities in the international legal context. To do so, we zoom in on two particular areas of (private and public) international law in which we believe legal mechanisms embodying trust and deference play a visible role in practice: international economic law and the transnational circulation of judgments and awards.

13:00 Opening – Prof. Janne Nijman (Asser Institute)

13:15-14:45  - Panel 1 – Trust, Distrust, and Deference in International economic law - Dr Enrico Partiti (Asser Institute)

• Dr. Denise Prevost (Maastricht University) – ‘Expertise and independence: parameters for trust and deference in SPS matters’.
• Jeanrique Fahner (University of Luxemburg) – ‘From Distrust to Deference. The Standard of Review in Investment Arbitration’
• Dr. Nathan Cambien (Antwerp University) – ‘Trust and deference in the EU internal market : from mutual recognition to mutual trust?’

15:00-16:30 - Panel 2 – Trust, Distrust, and Deference in the Transnational Circulation of Judgments/Awards - Prof. Dr Vesna Lazic (Asser Institute)

• Prof. Marta Pertegas (Maastricht University) - Trust in court judgments of national courts across borders: a prerequisite or an assumption based on deference?
• Prof Marta Requejo (Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law and University of Santiago de Compostela) – Courts and arbitral awards: trust and deference not without limits
• Dr. Eva Kassoti (The Hague University of Applied Sciences) - With a little help from my friends? Trust and deference between the CJEU and the ICJ

16:30 - 17:00 - Closing Comments

17:00: Closing Reception