On 15 and 16 July 2024, the Berlin Potsdam Research Group “The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?” and Harvard Law School’s Program on International Law and Armed Conflict will host a workshop on “Double Standards and International Law”.

Double standards are ubiquitous within the study and practice of international law. Examples abound as states speak abstractly about the need for accountability and their commitment to international law but in practice act inconsistently, for example, in applying human rights standards, combatting transnational and international crimes, or making and enforcing the rules that govern trade and development. This workshop seeks to foster debate about how double standards are expressed within international law and enhance understanding of how evidence of double standards impacts perceptions and practice. It will feature a wide range of papers that show the many ways that claims and evidence of double standards manifest in different forms of international legal argument, as well as time- and area-specific considerations of how double standards operate in different fields of international law, including from Global South(s) and empirical perspectives. The call is available here.

The deadline for submissions is 7 April 2024.

CALL FOR PAPERS