ILGSPD Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar Lecture

Topic: The International Arbitration of Territorial Disputes

Reclaiming the Sui Generis Nature of Abritration

Speaker: Professor Asaf Siniver - Professor of International Security

From: School of Government, University of Birmingham

In this lecture, Professor Asaf Siniver will introduce and discuss his newly published book “The International Arbitration of Territorial Disputes”.

In this study, Asaf Siniver provides a systematic and comparative analysis of the role of international arbitration in the settlement of interstate territorial disputes. He engages with International Relations (IR) and International Law (IL) scholarships to locate the unique characteristics of arbitration as a legal method of dispute settlement.

A novel framework examines both political and legal dimensions to analyse (i) under what conditions states are more likely to pursue a legal settlement of their territorial dispute via arbitration as opposed to the more popular diplomatic method of mediation, and (ii) what explains compliance with, or defiance of international law in such cases. In so doing, the author sets to reclaim the sui generis nature of arbitration as a unique legal-political method which enables the disputants to maintain the considerable flexibility and autonomy often found in mediation, whilst providing the same final and legally binding solution that adjudication offers. Siniver applies the analytical framework to four contemporary cases of international arbitration: the arbitration over the Rann of Kutch between India and Pakistan (1966-68); the Beagle Channel arbitration between Chile and Argentina (1971-77), the Taba arbitration between Egypt and Israel (1986-88), and the South China Sea arbitration between The Philippines and China (2013-16).

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A and drinks reception.

Host or Publisher Erasmus Mundus ILGSPD