The American Society of International Law 104th Annual Meeting will be held March 24-27, 2010 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, D.C. This year's theme is "International Law in a Time of Change." The two keynote lectures will be delivered by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada and Harold Hongju Koh, the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State. Additional featured speakers include: Georgetown University Law School Professor Edith Brown Weiss; International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes Secretary-General Meg Kinnear, and George Washington University Law School Professor Dinah Shelton. Onsite registration will be available. Select sessions will be available by live webcast. More

The 14th Annual International Environmental Moot Court Competition concluded yesterday with the Law Society of Ireland, Cork as Applicant facing the University of Maryland School of Law as Respondent. This year's simulated case before the International Court of Justice focused on "Beaked Whales and Marine Seismic Surveys." Student attorneys made arguments under the Espoo Convention, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the duty to prevent transboundary harm under customary international law. More than 80 teams competed worldwide with 19 teams advancing to the international finals in Florida. And the 2010 winner is . . . More

This week, the Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill will hold four days of hearings to discuss a 648-page draft bill, the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009," sponsored by two senior House Democrats, Representatives Waxman and Markey. Last week, at the 2009 ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting, Joseph Dellapenna moderated a discussion on Obama's market-based cap-and-trade proposal for carbon emissions with three panelists: Michael Gerrard, Jeffrey Gracer, and Kenneth S. Rivlin. The session was entitled, "Can Carbon Trade Save the World (or Does the World Need to Be Saved from Carbon Trading)?" These experts examined the concerns about market manipulation, the adequacy of possible regulation, the pros and cons of auctions, the lessons learned from other countries with traditional cap-and-trade systems, and possible policy alternatives. Here are some notes that I took during the session. More

ICJ President Hisashi Owada, Judge Thomas Buergenthal, and Judge Bruno Simma participated in the plenary session on 27 March 2009 at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL). Lucy Reed and Ralph Steinhardt served as the moderators. More

Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), delivered the Annual Grotius Lecture on 25 March 2009 at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL). His lecture, titled "Focusing on the Good or the Bad: What Can International Environmental Law Do to Accelerate The Transition Towards A Green Economy?" called for increased incentive-based systems rather than deterrence or punishment. The following provides an overview and analysis of his lecture. Dinah Shelton (GWU) provided remarks. More