Purpose and topics of the research group
The research group will study international law in a multi-level context, including the regional and national level, and the interaction between the different levels. It invites inter-disciplinary approaches. The Research Group brings together researchers and students at the Faculty of Law to engage and exchange research and expertise in international law.
To understand the development and challenges in international law, the Research Group invites and draws upon different methods, theories and practices of international law, as well as studies of current events and developments. The Research Group also studies the interactions between international, regional and domestic legal orders. It will thus reinforce the Faculty’s current emphasis on research and teaching on the relationship between Norwegian law and international law.
The Research Group provides a forum to discuss and study a wide range of international legal issues, including:
- The content and evolution of public international law
- International private law;
- The interaction between international law and national law; International law in a Norwegian legal context;
- Interdisciplinary approaches to international law;
- International economic law;
- Human rights in business;
- International law of migration;
- the right to self-determination, including socio-economic aspects;
- International and regional human rights;
- International organizations law;
- Individual responsibility in international criminal law, and different aspects of the proper administration of international criminal justice;
- International environmental law, in particular climate change;
- Commons, law of the sea and outer space law;
- EU/EEA law – both its substantive and institutional aspects
Organisation and leadership
The Research Group brings together researchers from different fields of international law – including EU/EEA and ECHR law – and researchers interested in the interaction between national/Norwegian law and (different sub-systems of) international law. It provides a forum for exchange of ideas and new initiatives. The Research Group will be responsible for carrying out the research initiative of the Faculty’s and PluriCourts’ research initiative on the relationship between international and Norwegian law in a comparative perspective, in cooperation with the Faculty and PluriCourts.
The Research Group will be a forum to develop and present other research projects and initiatives, such as the project on international investment arbitration, called Compliance Politics and International Investment Disputes, see https://www.jus.uio.no/pluricourts/english/projects/copiid/index.html
Until a new associate professor of international law and its interaction with national/Norwegian law is employed, the Research Group will be chaired by Professor Alla Pozdnakova (NIFS). The new associate professor will be expected to take over the leadership.
The Department of Public and International Law will be asked to host the Research Group, at PluriCourts until PluriCourts concludes 30 October 2023.
Planned activities
The Research Group will provide a forum to discuss contemporary issues in international law, and its interaction with national law, through regular seminars with internal and invited external participants, regular lunch seminars, research conferences on to topical and timely issues in international law and international relations. The research group will also act as a hub to prepare applications to suitable external sources and fora.
The Research Group will organize seminars, conferences, joint panels at international conferences and other activities that engage with the international academic community
Contribution to teaching in international law and on its interaction with national law
The research group will support teaching and development of international law courses at the Faculty – both mandatory courses that form part of the Master of Law programme, legal electives, and other relevant courses. It will contribute to the improvement of existing courses, as well as seek to incorporate international and European perspectives into law courses, to support a key priority for the Faculty in the coming years. Recent events, such as the NAV scandal, have demonstrated that this is an urgent need. The research group should contribute to this effort. First, it will pool the resources of the teaching international law researchers across the Faculty. Second, it will serve as a contact point and arena for teachers who seek to include (further) international and European perspectives in their textbooks and teaching, to ensure that they include all relevant aspects.
Network-building
The Research Group will encompass members and academic environments from across the Faculty and ensure good representation of scholars in terms of their academic interests, gender and age. The Research Group will build upon and expand the existing international law environment at the Faculty and welcome new perspectives and ideas. It will seek to foster better integration between the research on international law and the teaching mission of the Faculty.
The Research Group will work in close cooperation and coordination with other groups and centres at the Faculty of Law, including the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, PluriCourts, and other research groups that address international law.
The research group will work to maintain and improve the academic environment for young and temporary researchers. In addition, the research group will strengthen the academic network with other international law environments in Norway and abroad.
The Research Group will further seek to cooperate with external research institutions, such as NUPI, PRIO and the Norwegian Branch of the International Law Association, and with other Universities (UiT, UiB) and [Høgskolen i Innlandet/Lillehammer], e.g. through associate membership and joint events. The Research group will promote inter-disciplinary cooperation. The Research Group will also cooperate with international law associations at regional and global level, such as ESIL, ASIL and others, to organize panels and other events.
Applications for external funding
The RG will support participants and external members who apply for external funding, contribute to exchanges of ideas and work on the applications, as necessary, and will apply to the Faculty and other sources to obtain support for writing applications.