The University of Lausanne (UNIL) LL.M. in International Business Law & CEDIDAC are inviting abstracts on the topic of Business and Human Rights (BHR) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the first Centre for Comparative Law in Switzerland at the University of Lausanne. at a conference on 1 June 2023.
31. mai 2023; 13h00
Université de Lausanne, Salle Polyvalente, Route de Praz-Véguey 29, 1022 Lausanne
Deadline for Abstracts: 1 March 2023 / Deadline for Papers: 20 May 2023
Conference Date: 1 June 2023
Topic Ideas & Suggestions. In order to encourage a wide range of submissions, UNIL’s LL.M. in International Business Law & CEDIDAC plan to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions among legal and academic faculty & researchers and practitioners to encourage abstracts on the most recent developments, trends, concerns and practical challenges on improving business accountability for human rights impacts, based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and emerging regional and domestic legislations.
Papers of interest might discuss the following topics:
- the role of lawyers and third-party consultants in driving the BHR’s agenda;
- the hardening of soft law: legislative developments on BHRs, including mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) and forced labour import bans;
- enhanced HRDD in conflict-affected and high-risk areas;
- the right to a clean environment and its potential to advance human rights/climate justice;
- an intersectional approach to discrimination and other human rights violations;
- sustainability, human rights, climate justice and antitrust policies;
- human rights and Investment Arbitration;
- how financial institutions are addressing human rights in their own activities;
- access to remedy: analysis of judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, including arbitration;
- the evolution of parent-company liability in BHR litigation and jurisprudence;
- civil and administrative liabilities faced by companies and their directors;
- a legally binding instrument for human rights enforcement in the context of foreign investment and transnational business operations;
- the gap between current national legislations and regional or international principles.
- Submissions & Peer-Reviewed Publication. Abstracts of up to 500 words from scholars at any stage of their career should be sent to Dr. Shaheeza Lalani (llm@unil.ch) with copy to Maria Izabel Cardozo (mariaizabel.andradelimacardozo@unil.ch). A decision on acceptance of the abstract will be communicated by 15 March 2023.
To facilitate discussion, authors of accepted abstracts are expected to submit a draft paper by 20 May 2023. Selected papers will be included in a peer-reviewed publication, co-edited by Professor Andreas R. Ziegler, Professor Damiano Canapa and Maria Izabel Cardozo in the BRILL Series “International and Comparative Business Law and Public Policy”. Papers will be chosen for publication based on academic excellence as well as originality, and will go through a peer-review process.
About the Organisers
The UNIL LL.M. in International Business Law takes an interdisciplinary, comparative, and practice-oriented approach to enable young lawyers to face legal challenges in today’s global business environment. Offering the highest quality of teaching in small group settings and 5 specialisations, the Programme is taught by an international team of distinguished academics and practitioners. For more information, see http://www.unil.ch/llm.
The CEDIDAC is a center for continuing education, conferences and research, which hosts/co-hosts between 15 and 25 well-attended events (conferences, seminars, etc.) per year. The CEDIDAC brings academics and practitioners together and has published more than 115 books, mostly in topics principally related to Swiss national law, since it was founded in 1985. For more information, see www.unil.ch/cedidac.
Together the UNIL LL.M. in International Business Law & CEDIDAC host international conferences and publish edited volumes in their BRILL Series “International and Comparative Business Law and Public Policy”. This series offers an outlet for monographs and collective works making substantial contributions to interdisciplinary research. For more information, see https://brill.com/display/serial/BLPP.
