The law on state responsibility functions amidst various global crises, including armed conflicts, climate change, and increasing displacement. At the same time, the world has become more interconnected, with States frequently conducting activities in concert with other nations, international organisations, or private companies, blurring questions of attribution, breach, fault and causation. This workshop will examine whether the secondary law governing state responsibility can effectively respond to the globalised, multilateral context, or whether the regime itself is facing a crisis.
This workshop invites papers that explore the regime of state responsibility and its effectiveness in addressing these major global issues. Papers should evaluate the challenges faced by the law of state responsibility in contemporary contexts, including, for example, 1) establishing attribution, 2) establishing causation (in fact and law), 3) issues surrounding shared or joint responsibility, and 4) the relevance of fault in establishing state responsibility. This workshop invites academics working on the laws of state responsibility, as well as those considering their interaction with other related fields, to submit papers. Theoretical, socio-legal and doctrinal perspectives are all encouraged.
The workshop will invite academics to present their proposals to experts from both academia and practitioners working in the field. A keynote speaker will open the workshop, followed by three panels, each featuring 3-4 papers per topic. A senior academic will chair each panel and provide substantive feedback on each paper. Each panel will be followed by time for discussion among panellists and attendees. There will be time after the workshop to revise and write up papers, in light of feedback.
Abstracts should be sent to Kathryn Allinson. Abstracts should be one page, plus a short bio. The deadline is the 20 December 2025.