About the European Society of International Law

The European Society of International Law (ESIL) is a dynamic network of researchers, scholars and practitioners in the field of international law. The Society’s goals are to encourage the study of international law, to foster inquiry, discussion and innovation in international law, and to promote a greater understanding of the role of international law in the world today.

The process of creating ESIL began in 2001 and the inaugural meeting was held in 2004 in Florence. Since then, the Society has provided a forum for the exchange and promotion of new ideas, and ESIL events and publications continue to illustrate the breadth and range of members’ interests and activities. There has been a major ESIL event each year since the Society was set up. Until 2014 the conference and research fora were biennial events, but after the 10th anniversary conference in Vienna, these are now annual events.

Past events were held in Geneva (2005), Paris (2006), Budapest (2007), Heidelberg (2008), Helsinki (2009), Cambridge (2010), Tallinn (2011), Valencia (2012), Amsterdam (2013), Vienna (2014), Oslo (2015), Riga (2016) and Naples (2017). After Manchester, the 2019 conference will be held in Athens and the 2020 conference in Stockholm.

ESIL now holds an annual Research Forum, a scholarly event which promotes engagement with research in progress by early-career members of the Society. To date, these have been held in Florence (2015), Istanbul (2016) and Granada (2017) and the 2018 Research Forum will be held in Jerusalem.

There is also an increasing number of joint events where ESIL works together with other institutions to set up conferences, symposia or workshops looking at specific aspects of international law. ESIL also sponsors many other events throughout Europe, including the symposia and workshops of the ESIL Interest Groups, and other international workshops and conferences organised by its members. These additional events allow ESIL members in many different parts of the world to get involved in the Society’s activities and the 15 ESIL Interest Groups provide excellent networking opportunities for the members of the groups. Full details of all joint events, Interest Group events, and ESIL-sponsored events can be found on the ESIL website.

ESIL publications include edited volumes with chapters by speakers at ESIL events, papers in the ESIL SSRN Series, and the online ESIL Reflections series.

The activities of the Society are managed by the ESIL Board. The current President is Luis M. Hinojosa-Martinez. Full details of all board members can be found on the ESIL website. Many ideas for the further development of the Society come from the members, who are welcome to contact the Board at any time.

Membership of the Society is open to anyone with an interest in international law who wishes to contribute to the realisation of the goals of the Society. As well as regular and student members, the Society has lifetime members and institutional members; the Society is especially grateful to the increasing number of lifetime members who have made a special financial contribution to support ESIL’s activities. If you wish to join ESIL, full details can be found on the ESIL website.

The activities of the Society have been generously funded from the outset by the Academy of European Law at the European University Institute in Florence, where the ESIL Secretariat is based. This continuing support is a much-appreciated contribution to the future of the Society.