In January 2012, the Hague Academy of International Law, in collaboration with the Hague Conference on Private International Law, organised a seminar entitled “Responding to the Challenges of Natural and Industrial Catastrophes: New Directions for International Law”.
The seminar, which took place in The Hague from 15-21 January 2012, covered diverse issues such as international environmental law, responsibility for transboundary harm and the International Court of Justice’s case-law on natural and industrial disasters. David Fisher, Coordinator of the IFRC Disaster Law programme, was invited to lead sessions on regulatory issues and international instruments related to international disaster response and protection issues.
We interviewed Samantha Besson, Seminar Coordinator for The Hague Academy of International Law and Professor of Public International Law, University of Fribourg, Switzerland about the event.
What prompted the organisation of a seminar on natural and industrial catastrophes and the legal challenges they present in public and private international law, and why is this important now?
It is important to us to select topics on which practitioners could benefit from an exchange with other colleagues and from recognized experts in the field, and bridge the divide between public and private international law, to offer a more integrated approach of the same problem to our participants.
In view of those criteria, natural and industrial disasters seemed very topical. Disasters are not only widespread in practice, thus raising the need for an international response. They also raise complex legal issues that are best approached in a holistic way that requires bridging the public-private divide in international law.
What do you think international law experts bring to the table when it comes to disaster response and mitigation?
I think our primary responsibility is to prevent and correct the defects of the current regimes of international law pertaining to disaster, such as fragmentation and conflicts, from weakening disaster response in practice.
Another important responsibility of international lawyers is to make choices on the extremely complex ethical issues raised by disasters that have transnational consequences. One may think of the following questions: the difference between responsibilities and duties triggered by disasters, the identification of their bearers, the allocation of those duties and responsibilities, the existence of corresponding individual or collective rights, and so on.
Will the Hague Academy of International Law be pursuing its interest in these areas, and if so, how will it look to do so?
The Hague Academy had sponsored research on the issue fifteen years ago in its Centre for Studies and Research, published in a book edited by David Caron and Charles Leben. Since then, some of the summer lectures of the Academy have also touched upon the issue. It is likely that this interest will continue to rise in the future.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law also has an interest in following-up on the issue of the legal response to disasters. For a few years, it has been considering the opportunity of drafting a Hague Convention on environmental damages and the private international law issues raised by liability claims following industrial disasters.
And finally, please could you highlight any legal issues which you consider will require the most attention in the future, with regard to natural disasters?
There are many. I will mention two here: international law-making and international institutions.
From the perspective of international law-making, first of all, the main issue is the fragmentation of public international law regimes depending on the kind of disasters and the agents at stake, on the one hand, and whether the concern lies in pre-, during or post-disaster measures, on the other. Currently, the focus of international law has been much more on industrial disasters and on individual damages, on the one hand, and on post-disaster liability issues, on the other. It is time to work more on natural disasters, on their collective dimension and on pre-disaster measures.
The second important issue relates to international institutions. Almost all difficulties currently confronting international law pertaining to disaster have an institutional component. It is important to face it openly as a result, as institutions allow the identification and allocation of duties and responsibilities among states and other international agents.