The second meeting of the ILA Committee on the Rules of Procedure of International Courts and Tribunals will take place at the MPI Luxembourg for Procedural Law on September 22 and 23, 2017.

Established in May 2016, this Committee of the International Law Association (ILA) is co-chaired by Professors Hélène Ruiz Fabri, Philippe Sands (University College London) and Shotaro Hamamoto (Kyoto University).

The topic – and the Committee’s activity – are oriented towards the practice of law. It aims to put forward pragmatic solutions to selected problems. Although certain questions of theory (e.g. – the role of the sovereignty of States in the realm of procedure) may arise in the course of its mandate, the focus of the Committee will remain on the practical implications for the managing of proceedings in international courts and tribunals, taking advantage of a comparative approach to similar issues. It will consequently employ a combination of empirical, doctrinal and normative methods to collate material on procedural issues, identify general principles of law common to international courts and tribunals in the field of procedure and examine the case for procedural reform.

At the end, the Committee aims to propose a package of reforms, mindful of the overarching theoretical assumptions but tailored to the individual circumstances of each international court and tribunal. Alongside the specific needs of each jurisdiction, identified with the support of empirical evidence and expert analysis, the Committee will be continuously mindful of the institutional context and the practical viability of any reform considered for proposal.