The student-led Chicago Journal of International Law will convene leading scholars on March 4 for a virtual symposium examining the ways in which legal tools are used to entrench autocracies.

It is a topic inspired by several recent examples, including Vietnam’s passage of a cybersecurity law that was used to restrict online political organizing, a Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s decision restricting abortion access, and a broad national security law that was used to stifle dissent in Hong Kong.

“Despite entrenchment’s increasing presence in countries around the world, my editors and I noticed a gap in the literature regarding the role of international law in this phenomenon,” said Amber Stewart, ’22, CJIL’s 2021-2022 editor-in-chief. “Although entrenchment involves the use of domestic laws to subvert democratic principles, as recent events illustrate, what happens in one country can have a reverberating impact across the globe. Thus, it is critical to close this gap and analyze this issue from an international law perspective.”

A new book by Tom Ginsburg, the Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, will serve as a foundation for the discussion. Democracies and International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2021) explores how the shifting balance between democracies and non-democracies will affect the international legal order, from human rights to international cooperation. 

“Professor Ginsburg’s book is an excellent examination of how democracies and autocracies use domestic and international law to achieve their ends. Entrenchment is just one topic Professor Ginsburg explores in his book,” Stewart said. “The ability to gather together leading scholars like Professors Ginsburg, Huq, and Posner, as well as Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat of the Global Human Rights Clinic, to discuss entrenchment and related issues cannot be overstated.”

In addition to Ginsburg, Eric Posner, the Kirkland & Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Arthur and Esther Kane Research Chair; Aziz Huq, the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law; and Lecturer in Law Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, a fellow in the Law School’s Global Human Rights Clinic, will serve as panelists, along with several scholars from other schools.

Panels include “Introduction to Entrenchment and International Law,” Rising Authoritarianism: A Comparative View,” “Entrenchment and Instrumentalities of International Law,” and “The Future of Entrenchment and International Law.”

The event was sponsored by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Stewart added that she and the board are grateful for their support. The event runs from 1 pm to 5 pm is open to the public. To register, please visit: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/cjilregistration