Download here the Call for Papers Conference Belo Horizonte 2026
The Conference “Regional Approaches to International Law: what role in a dividing world?”, will take place on August 26-28, 2026, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais Law School in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The conference is co-organized by the Brazilian Branch of the International Law Association (ILA-Brasil), the African Society of International Law (AfSIL) and the Latin American Society of International Law (SLADI).
The event seeks to bring together scholars, practitioners, and students to reflect on the role of regional perspectives in shaping international law at a moment of fragmentation, contestation, and realignment. By situating the debate in the Global South, the Conference aims to interrogate how regions articulate, contest, or reinforce the universality of international law, and how regional practices may contribute to or challenge the cohesion of the international legal order.
At a moment marked by geopolitical realignment, normative fragmentation, and renewed debates over universality, the conference seeks to treat “the regional” not as a mere deviation from general international law, but as a site of norm-creation, institutional imagination, and practical problem-solving. By foregrounding perspectives from the Global South, we aim to map convergences and frictions across legal traditions, identify how regional practices travel and transform across borders, and assess their implications for adjudication, law-making, and institutional design.
Different perspectives and approaches to the main question are welcome.
The organizers invite the submission of abstracts on the subject until December 15th 2025. Abstracts should be sent to rail.brazil2026@gmail.com. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words and should be accompanied by a short resume of no more than 2 pages. Selected papers will be notified by 15 January 2026. Those selected will be expected to make their own arrangements to cover the costs associated with their participation in person. The organizers will, however, be pleased to facilitate institutional invitations and provide any necessary documentation to support applications for funding from home institutions or other sponsors.
Main axes for the Conference
Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to, one of the following areas:
Regions, Regionalism, and Regional in International Law
Regional Approaches and Critical Approaches to International Law
Regional Approaches and Law-making in the International Legal Order
Regional Approaches, Universality and Unity of International Law
Regional Approaches and Imperialism in International Law
Regional Approaches and Regional Organisations
Regional Approaches and the Global South
Regional Approaches, Methods and Methodology of International Law
Regional Approaches and International Courts and Tribunals
Instructions for Contributors
● Submission of Proposals: Authors are requested to submit their abstracts or respond to invitations by 15 December 2025. The selection process will be finalized by 15 January 2026.
● First Drafts: Selected authors should submit the first draft (8000-10000 words) of their papers by 30 May 2026.
● Review Process: Comments and suggestions on the initial drafts will be returned to authors by 30 June 2026.
● Conference Programme: The final programme of the Conference will be published on 15 July 2026. The Conference will take place in August 2026 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais Law School in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
● Final Versions: Authors should submit the final version of their texts by 30 September 2026. The complete typescript of the volume will be submitted to the publisher in November 2026, with publication of the Proceedings expected in the first quarter of 2027.
