ELI Ukrainian Hub Held an Event on International Law in the 21st Century

29.05.2023

On 29 May 2023, the Hub held a webinar on ‘The Crisis of International Law: The Search for a New Paradigm.’

After February 2022, discussions broke out with renewed vigour in Ukraine and around the world about the current state of international law, its role in preventing and resolving conflicts, as well as about prospects for its development. Despite the existing criticism of modern international law, it is noted that it was formed under the auspices of the UN, and most important documents, structures and procedures were introduced before 1990, that is, in the context of a bipolar system of international relations, which de-facto ceased to exist in the early 90s.

Therefore, it is obvious that the further the world moves away from the transition to a multipolar model of international relations, the more problems will arise that international law cannot solve. It was noted that the world needs new approaches to the evolution of international law.

According to the point of view of the participants of the webinar, the principle of respect for State sovereignty and the existence of a clear, transparent and universal mechanism of responsibility for violations committed at interstate level should be fundamental in the international law of the 21st century since it was precisely the violation of the former and the absence of the latter that led to the deep crisis that modern international law is in.