Dear members and subscribers,
The 77th Biennial Conference of the International Law Association, which is scheduled for 7 – 11 August 2016 in Johannesburg, will mark the second time only for a biennial conference to take place on the African continent in the almost 150 year history of the Association. Expectations are therefore high that the members of the historically dominant ILA constituencies in the North will attend the conference in substantial numbers in the interest of providing a platform for the establishment of a community of international law scholars that is more representative of the regions of the world than is currently the case.
Apart from this imperative, and in addition to the reporting sessions of some thirty ILA committees and study groups, the programme offers parallel sessions on issues of regional and global interest and significance. These include the UN report on Africa’s illegal capital flight; harmonization efforts in international commercial law; BRICS in international law; the peace and security architecture of the African Union; automated weapon systems and international law; marine bio-diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction; investor – state dispute resolution; nuclear weapons, non-proliferation and contemporary international law; the law of armed conflict in Africa; and international criminal law.
Leisure options abound. Pre- and post-conference tours to the spectacular Victoria Falls and to Cape Town are available. In Johannesburg and surroundings delegates have the option to visit game farms, the Constitutional Court, the Apartheid museum, SOWETO and Liliesleaf Farm where senior members of the ANC were arrested in 1963 for plotting the overthrow of the Apartheid government.
The members of the South African Branch of the ILA have invested a lot of time and energy in putting this conference together in adverse circumstances. We hope that we can count on the patronage of our fellow ILA members in other branches.