Earlier this month, six members of the Aberdeen Centre for Constitutional and Public International Law (ACCPIL) participated in the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) conference hosted by IE University in Madrid. Over three days, they presented their research, chaired and organised panels, acted as discussants, met with public law colleagues from all over the world – and still made time to enjoy some tapas.
In keeping with the conference theme of ‘The Future of Public Law: Resilience, Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence,’ Dr Eliza Bechtold presented a paper entitled ‘Recent Developments in Content Moderation Regulation in the US: Free Speech Questions and Challenges’ in which she analysed two recent decisions by the US Supreme Court.
Professor Irene Couzigou, a noted expert on technology and international law, chaired a panel on ‘AI & Contemporary Issues in International Law.’ Her paper, ‘Autonomous Cyber Defence and International Law,’ demonstrated the challenges raised by the resort to AI for the law on countermeasures and self-defence.
Professor Peter Cserne was invited to act as a discussant for the panel ‘Nudging and the Law: Applying Rule of Law Safeguards to a Psychological Policy tool,’ organised by Professor Janneke Gerards of Utrecht University, featuring three searching presentations on whether and how nudging by public bodies can be controlled and challenged by public law instruments.
Taking the ‘Sustainability’ angle of the theme to heart, Dr Erin Ferguson travelled by train from Aberdeen to Madrid to present her paper ‘Climate Change Litigation and the European Convention on Human Rights,’ which analysed the recent European Court of Human Rights judgment in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v Switzerland. She then had the opportunity to gain further insight into the case during the keynote speech delivered by recent Court President Siofra O’Leary.
Professor Tamas Gyorfi organised a panel entitled ‘Constitutional Review under Democratic Stress’ and presented his paper ‘Democratic Backlash and Abusive Judicial Review – the Case of the Hungarian Constitutional Court.’ The panel took a close look at the status of constitutional courts in Turkey, Mexico, and Hungary.
Finally, second-year PhD student Lizeth Moreno Marquez was thrilled to attend her first ICON-S conference. She told us, ‘Attending the annual ICON-S conference in Madrid was an incredibly enriching experience. The conference provided a unique platform for me to engage with academics, judges, experts, and peers worldwide, enabling the exchange of knowledge and ground-breaking ideas. It also allowed me to create meaningful connections that might result in potential collaborations and lasting friendships. The panels and discussions were highly stimulating, broadening my understanding of diverse areas of public law, including constitutional law and international law.’ She’s already planning to get involved in future conferences so that she can share her research on conscientious objection in healthcare.