XXI Conference of Young Scholars of International Legal Studies – University of Trento
Over the last decades, human rights have progressively informed the international and EU legal debate. Notwithstanding waves of political pushback and doctrinal contestation, leading to talks of a ‘post-human rights era’, human rights today appear more alive than ever.
The title of the Conference purposefully refers to broad concepts such as ‘use’ and ‘language’ to capture the pervasiveness of human rights in all its ramifications. The complex nature of the use of human rights language is apparent not only in the many forms that it may take but also in the actors behind it and the objectives that they pursue. Furthermore, the Conference aims to discuss the effects, both in law and in practice, of the use of human rights language. Indeed, whether the widespread use of human rights language in international and EU law can represent a lodestar for cross-fertilization among legal sectors may be questioned.
Broader legitimacy questions also arise. Is the language of human rights fully a language of empowerment for disenfranchised individuals and communities, or is it still rooted in Western and hegemonic conceptions? Can new uses of human rights language result in abuses, distorting human rights’ essence, and are there any remedies against such potential abuses?
The Conference witnessed the contributions from several young scholars of international legal studies, with inputs from senior legal scholars as discussants and a keynote speech by Professor Guido Raimondi, former President of the European Court of Human Rights.
All information about the Conference can be found at the following webpage: https://webmagazine.unitn.it/en/evento/giurisprudenza/120301/the-use-of-human-rights-language-in-international-and-eu-law