Research Fellow Amber Rose Maggio and Postdoctoral Fellow Marija Jovanovic presented papers at the International Law and Universality Conference in Manchester organised by the European Society of International Law.

Dr Maggio’s paper was entitled ‘Marine Environmental Protection, Regional Cooperation and Universality: The Particular View from Southeast Asia’. The paper explored the preference for universality in environmental standard setting with regard to marine environmental protection, how regionalism and regional cooperation may be replacing universalism in the implementation of measures for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and what the implications are for states in Southeast Asia. The paper discussed the legal framework and possible move away from universality, regional cooperation mechanisms, the particular view from Southeast Asia with a focus on the South China Sea, and future prospects.

Dr Jovanovic presented a paper entitled ‘Europe, Trade Deals and Forced and Child Labour in Developing States: Towards a More Principled Approach’. She explored the extraterritorial reach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in cases of forced and worst forms of child labour when these practices occur within the supply chains of companies domiciled in European states. Exposing an unprincipled gap in the current ECHR jurisprudence, the paper argued that the absence of any state responsibility pertaining to activities of business enterprises domiciled in their territory, especially in countries with well-known and severe governance gaps, undermines the universal reach of the absolute prohibition of slavery and forced labour and effectively encourages and facilitates such practices outside the European espace juridique. The paper then presented reasons for and ways of framing states’ positive obligations in these circumstances that are consistent with the principles of interpretation of the ECHR and with the growing international recognition of such duties by international organisations and established precedents in some domestic jurisdictions.