JurisDictions: International law podcast

We sometimes hear discussions that frame international dispute settlement in the language of markets. Consider the various discussions surrounding how international actors engage in ‘forum shopping’, looking for their preferred international dispute settlement venue amongst various available options. But what happens when we begin imagining courts and tribunals as active participants in this market? In what sense could we speak of courts and tribunals engaging in marketing? 
Guests  
Dr Georgia Antonopoulou, Assistant Professor in Commercial Dispute Resolution, Birmingham Law School, College of Arts and Law.  
Professor Christine Schwöbel-Patel, Warwick Law School, the University of Warwick 
Host 
Eduardo Silva de Freitas, PhD candidate at Erasmus University Rotterdam and junior researcher in private international law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute. 
 
Further reading 
Christine Schwöbel-Patel, 'Spectacle in international criminal law: the fundraising image of victimhood' (2016) 4 London Review of International Law 247. 
Christine Schwöbel-Patel, 'The ‘Ideal’ Victim of International Criminal Law' (2018) 29 European Journal of International Law 703. 
Georgia Antonopoulou, 'The ‘Arbitralization’ of Courts: The Role of International Commercial Arbitration in the Establishment and the Procedural Design of International Commercial Courts' (2023) 14 Journal of International Dispute Settlement 328. 
Georgia Antonopoulou, 'Forum Marketing in International Commercial Courts?' (2024) 44 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 860.

In this episode, Taylor Kate Woodcock, Researcher in Public International Law at the Asser Institute interviews Nani Jansen Reventlow, author and award-winning human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human rights, social justice, and technology. Founder of Systemic Justice and the Digital Freedom Fund, Nani has overseen litigation worldwide, leading cases before national courts, the European Court of Human Rights, African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, and UN Human Rights Committee, amongst others.
Nani joins Taylor to explain strategic litigation, her trajectory in the field and experiences working with marginalized communities in trauma informed ways, providing practical insights and hope for the pursuit of material, structural change through strategic litigation.
For more information on Nani Jansen Reventlow’s recent and upcoming publications, see:
·        N Jansen Reventlow - Radical Justice: Building the world we need – Available in Dutch and for Pre-order in English. Use discount code NANI15 here to get 15% off pre-orders of 'Radical Justice in English (discount code expires on 19 March 2026) .

·        Read more about Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgments – Edited by Nani Jansen Reventlow, Eddie Bruce-Jones, Lyn K. L. Tjoin Soei Len and Adam Weiss here.

In this episode, Flora Bensadon and Irem Cakmak are joined by Zoe Bantleman, Dr Kris van der Pas and Dr Annick Pijnenburg to discuss the externalisation of migration. What is meant by the externalisation of migration? What legal, political and moral considerations does it raise? And to what extent may contemporary externalisation efforts be seen as a wider pushback against international law?

Note: From 20:10 Dr Van der Pas discusses the upcoming changes to the connection requirement in EU law and from 30:18 Dr Pijnenburg briefly discusses the Italy-Albania deal and litigation and again the connection requirement. There have been some developments since the podcast was recorded: The European Commission published its proposal to change the connection requirement and the Court of Justice of the EU ruled on a preliminary question that affects the Italy-Albania deal. 
 
Speakers
Zoe Bantleman – Barrister, Legal Director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA), and DPHil Migration Studies Student, University of Oxford  
Dr Kris van der Pas – Postdoctoral Researcher, Tilburg University
Dr Annick Pijnenburg – Assistant Professor, International and European Law, Radboud University
 
Hosts
Flora Bensadon – Intern, TMC Asser Institute

Irem Cakmak – Intern, TMC Asser Institute

In a brand-new episode of JurisDictions, the Asser Institute’s international law podcast, researcher Dr Carl Lewis interviews Ammar Hijazi, Ambassador and Head of the Palestinian Mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to International Organizations in The Hague.
One year after the International Court of Justice delivered its Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (19 July 2024), Ambassador Ammar Hijazi reflects on his role as ambassador, the importance of pursuing justice within existing international legal mechanisms, as well as the need for states to show commitment to international law.
“(…) today we see the final episodes of our erasure taking place in Palestine. These are now very clear, in terms of law. Everybody knows where everything stands. And it is up to States. Do they want this system to continue? Or do they want it to collapse on the basis of a few interests here and there, or on sheer power and bullying? That's a determination that is not up to the Palestinians. This is why it is a litmus test. Everybody's looking at Palestine.”

For the first time in history, a dedicated tribunal is being established to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression. Join us in this episode, as Dr Gabrielė Chlevickaitė, International Criminal Law researcher at the Asser Institute, interviews H.E. Dr Anton Korynevych, Ambassador -at-large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. 
Should you wish to read more, the Asser Institute has also released a Report on the Special Tribunal, offering the first legal analysis of the 'Council of Europe model,' as well as broader legal and policy considerations.