Public interest litigation in international law

This is an occasion to present the collection, its background and its outcomes. The editors Justine Bendel and Yusra Suedi will start with an overview of the project, followed by the presentation of three chapters by Corina Heri, Sarah Thin, Craig Eggett and Maria-Louiza Deftou. Finally, we are delighted that Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue (University of Geneva) will be discussing the book as a whole, and give his perspective on the topic of public interest litigation.

Description of the collection:
In a world of growing public interest over global matters, and criticisms over multilateralism to adequately address them, the role of international courts and tribunals in the resolution of disputes is shifting. A central aspect of this shift is whether and how international courts and tribunals can be used to resolve such disputes in the public interest. This practice, referred to as public interest litigation, is the object of this collection, which identifies some recent developments, trends and prospects in this growing practice. Its aim is to assess the degree to which the bilateral design of international courts and tribunals can adapt to the shift towards a public approach to international litigation. Engaging with various fields where public interest litigation exists – such as human rights, climate change, global health and criminal law – it identifies recent developments, trends and prospects in this practice. The selected pieces provide a flavour of the types of issues that have arisen before international judicial bodies – for instance the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, international arbitral tribunals, regional human rights bodies or criminal courts – and explores issues that may arise in the future.

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