Seventy experts in international law from four continents, including leading world experts, were attracted to Olomouc by the conference “International Law and the Regulation of Resort to Force: Exhaustion, Destruction, Rebirth?”. The Centre for International Humanitarian and Operational Law (CIHOL) at the Faculty of Law organized the symposium. The unifying theme of the two-day meeting was the prohibition of the use of armed force in international law, its current status, and prospects for further development.
After an introductory speech by Martin Faix, Head of CIHOL, and a welcome by Václav Stehlík, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Petr Kozák, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, representative of the leading partner of the symposium, took the floor during the opening ceremony. He was followed by Erika de Wet, who represented the co-organising University of Graz. Her contribution focused on the future of international law and collective security.
The organizers divided the conference into 15 thematic panels, in which nearly fifty speakers from more than thirty institutions actively participated. "Most of the panels were held in parallel, so the participants could partially tailor the program to their professional interest," explained Marko Svicevic from the Department of International and European Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Prague and a member of CIHOL. Among the attendees were researchers and experts from practice. Many represented prestigious and established international institutions, such as the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, the American Red Cross, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
Among the most watched speakers and prominent participants were Dire Tladi and Pavel Sturma, former Chairmen of the UN International Law Commission, Niels Blokker from Leiden University, Douglas Wilson, Director of the UK Attorney General's Office, Nicholas Tsagourias from the University of Sheffield and Tom Ruys from Ghent University.
According to the organizers, the conference met expectations. "We managed to connect a young generation of scholars with world-class experts from different parts of the world and to discuss with them comprehensively an issue that is not only a pillar of the international law system, but in the light of current events is receiving much attention. The participants appreciated the timing of the symposium and its high professional, social, and organizational level," said Martin Faix, Head of CIHOL and Vice Dean for Foreign Affairs of the Faculty of International Law of the University of Applied Sciences. According to him, the conference allowed the quality of Central European science to be shown, brought prestige to the faculty, and expanded the network of contacts with influential international institutions.
The conference “International Law and the Regulation of Resort to Force: Exhaustion, Destruction, Rebirth?” was held at the Faculty of Law in September. CIHOL organized it in cooperation with the University of Graz and with the support of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, the European Society of International Law, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Czech Republic.
