Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture 2019: 'Democracies and International Law: The Trials of Liberalism (Part 3)' - Professor Tom Ginsburg

LCIL International Law Seminar Series

A series of three lectures by Professor Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, Ludwig and Hilde Wolf Research Scholar, Professor of Political Science, The University of Chicago Law School. All lectures are held at the Lauterpacht Centre at 6 pm on Tuesday 12 March, Wednesday 13 March and Thursday 14 March with a Q&A at 1 pm on Friday 15 March (sandwich lunch from 12.30 pm). Lecture Three: Authoritarian International Law? In the final lecture, I ask what international law will look like if current trends continue. In an era dominated by authoritarian and not democratic regimes, what role will international law play? To be sure, we do not want to blindly project forward from current trends, and it is possible that democratic systems will prove resilient. But the rise of authoritarian China, with its own increasingly resilient legal system, along with a newly assertive Russian regime, suggests that the question of authoritarian international law is worth exploring. This inquiry involves examining the international mechanisms established and utilized by these states. As I shall argue, the role of international law in a world dominated by authoritarian regimes will in some ways resemble its role in the earlier Westphalian era. The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law.