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Conference Announcement: International Association for Constitutional Law in Mexico City

By Lawrence Solum

The International Association of Constitutional Law is inviting papers for its World Congress which will take place in Mexico city, from 6 to 10 December 2010.

There are two principal formats for the scholarly program of the world congress: plenary sessions and workshops. Plenary sessions are addressed by invited speakers (programme here: http://www.iacl-aidc.org/downloads/Mexico_World_Congress_programme_en.pdf) while workshops are open to participation by all scholars of constitutional law.

Workshop 6 deals with ?the rule of law in an age of terrorism? and the IACL secretariat is looking for papers on the following subjects:

* Terrorism and principles of ethics ? an oxymoron? The fight against terrorism poses severe legal questions many of which can also be addressed as ethical dilemmas: the practice of torture, targeted killing, the bombing of civilians in war, the distinction between consequences that are intended and those that are foreseen but unintended, to name but a few. This aspect call for papers dealing with the morality of military action against terror

* Terrorism and proportionality ? The principle of proportionality forms part of almost every national legal system. In our workshop, we may discuss its function in human rights law, and also in the law of armed conflict. How do these quite different constructions affect the constitutional debate on proportionality in counter-terrorism? Some of the specific questions that arise relate to use of force that causes civilian casualties, to the use of normally prohibited methods of interrogation, or to the risk that the proportionality principle undermines effective action against terrorism.

* Preventing terrorism ? this aspect focuses on the tools and means available in modern democracies in order to neutralize the basis of terrorism, and may deal with counter-terrorism measures, technology, international efforts and recommendations for governments.

* The financing of terrorism ?the instruments and rules enacted to fight the financing of terrorism: are they effective? Terrorist financing from a transnational perspective: Is an international clear guideline ? or a ?joint terrorist financial? database possible at all? What are the new developments and regulations on the efforts to linkage money laundering and financing of terrorism. The coordination needed between law enforcement and intelligence agencies in order to combat terrorist finance- how it influences human rights protection?

* Recent developments in couner-terrorism legislation ? Constitutional rights and the constitutionality of counter-terrorism measures. Tension between freedom and security and comparative case-law; counter-terrorist laws which allows the banning of political parties who support terrorist acts and the use of violence.

* International humanitarian law and the fight against terrorism- the concept of ?terrorism? under international law: Is Terrorism an international crime? May the application of international humanitarian law constitute an obstacle to the fight against terrorism? Or should it govern the fight against terrorism, pushing aside human rights law and constitutional rights?

Expressions of interest in submitting a paper to a particular workshop should be sent to the organising committee, either at the time of registration or afterwards. These should take the form of a title and an abstract and should indicate the name, institutional affiliation and contact details of the author. Expressions of interest may be sent by email to mexico2010.iacl@gmail.com.

Please state clearly in the subject line of the email the name and number of the workshop for which the paper is being proposed. The deadline for expressions of interest is 1 May 2010.

More info on how to submit a paper you can find here: http://www.iacl-aidc.org/?p=411%20%20

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on March 29, 2010 (boomark / email).