The International Association of Constitutional Law’s* Research Group on Constitutional Responses to Terrorism has issued a call for proposals (in the form of abstracts) for papers to be given at a roundtable to be held at Harvard Law School, USA on 6-7 March 2014 entitled “Constitutionalism Across Borders in the Struggle Against Terrorism”
During the last two decades the struggle against terrorism has increasingly acquired a world-wide dimension. States have pooled their forces by coordinating their counter-terrorism policies in the framework of international or regional organizations. At the same time, states have resorted to transnational instruments of cooperation, for instance by sharing information on national security threats on a peer-to-peer basis. The recent disclosure about surveillance by the NSA has occasioned transnational disputes and concerns. We welcome proposals that seek to bring comparative analysis to bear on these new dynamics, from the perspective of national security and human rights.
Issues that authors might want to address include, for example:
– Constitutional challenges and opportunities arising from international institutions and obligations
– Constitutional issues arising from EU and ECHR obligations and coordination
– Constitutional challenges posed by transnational cooperation and divergence in counter-terrorism policy and practice
– Constitutional questions about trans-border coverage and protection: who beyond a nation’s own citizens enjoy constitutional rights, and where do such rights apply?
The conference will last a day and a half and will feature the participation, among others, of Martin Scheinin (President of the IACL and former UN Special Rapporteur on Terrorism and Human Rights), Lech Garlicki (Former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights), Savvas Papasavvas (Judge of the General Court of the EU), Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University), Erika de Wet (University of Pretoria) and Vicki Jackson, the host of the event at Harvard Law School. Abstract proposals of max. 300 words and the author’s cv should be emailed, along with any query, to federico.fabbrini@gmail.com by 17 November 2013. Once abstracts are accepted, papers of max. 6,000 words will be due 15 February 2014 to permit exchange of drafts prior to the conference and possible inclusion in a publication with a top international publisher soon afterwards. Selected speakers are expected to bear their own costs for travel and accommodation.
Convenors
Prof. David Cole, Georgetown University, Research Group Chair
Ass. Prof. Federico Fabbrini, Tilburg Law School, Research Group Coordinator
* The UK Constitutional Law Group is an affiliated national organisation to the the IACL.
UK Constitutional Law Association 