In June 2022, the UN Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement called for states to develop and implement ‘relevant laws and policy frameworks to address IDPs’ rights.’ Maynooth University’s School of Law and Criminology responds to this call by hosting its first workshop on IDP law and policy on 2 February 2023. They welcome submissions of works in progress on all areas of IDP law and policy, but are particularly interested in papers that push the boundaries of existing thinking. Such topics might include:

• Whether ‘IDP law’ as a distinct branch of law exists
• Whether there should be a global treaty on IDPs and what obligations such treaty would contain
• Whether other fields of law and policy, such as disaster and refugee law and policy, can and should inform the development of IDP law and policy
• The roles and obligations of both states and non-state actors concerning IDP protection
• Measuring the impact of and/or compliance with IDP laws and policies
• Participation of IDPs in the development of laws and policies, and in challenging their displacement
• Preventing and resolving situations of internal displacement

In the spirit of creating a friendly, informal atmosphere, the workshop will be limited to five participants. To ensure participants receive detailed feedback, papers will be circulated in advance, each participant will be appointed as a commentator on another paper, and presentations will be limited to five minutes. In addition, participants are requested to provide feedback on all papers and to participate for the duration of the workshop (09:00-17:30). The workshop will be followed by a book launch and networking event to celebrate the publication of Internally Displaced Persons and International Refugee Law (Oxford University Press, 2022) by Bríd Ní Ghráinne.

The workshop will allow researchers working on this niche area to connect, showcase their research, gain detailed feedback from their peers, and identify opportunities for future collaboration. Participants will be invited to submit their papers to a Special Issue of the Internal Displacement Research Programme Working Papers Series on Internal Displacement Law and Policy.

Abstracts of works in progress (300 words) and a brief biography (300 words) should be sent to brid.nighrainne@mu.ie by Friday 30 September 2022. Participants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Friday 7 October 2022. Final papers, of no more than 12,000 words including footnotes, should be sent by Friday 16 December 2022. The costs of two nights’ bed and breakfast in Maynooth campus, as well as lunch and dinner on 2 February will be covered for each participant.