The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented constitutional challenges to states worldwide, and to their regional and international cooperation. The Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) and Verfassungsblog are bringing together internationally recognized experts in a three-part online discussion series to reflect on these challenges and ways to address them.

Session III: 26 May 2020 – 4:00 – 6:00 pm

“Universally respected but temporarily neglected?” – COVID-19 as a crisis for human rights and multilateralism

Multilateralism and international human rights have been met with increasing scepticism for quite some time now. So far, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly not made international cooperation easier. But what exactly does this pandemic mean for multilateralism and the international protection of human rights? And what will international cooperation look like once the virus is under control? This panel will discuss the implications of COVID-19 in this regard and identify some lessons to be learned for the international community.

Participants:

PPHILIP ALSTON (NYU/ Former UN Special Rapporteur Extreme Poverty and Human Rights)

COVID-19 from the Perspective of Human Rights and Global Poverty

MARCO SASSÓLI (Geneva Academy of IHL and Human Rights/ Université de Genève)

The COVID-19 Pandemic and its Implications for (Existing) Conflicts

GIAN LUCA BURCI (Graduate Institute Geneva, Former Legal Counsel of WHO)

COVID-19 as an Institutional Crisis for the WHO and Multilateralism

KATRIN RADTKE/ EVA JOHAIS (IFHV, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

COVID-19 as an International Challenge for Humanitarian Governance

NICO KRISCH (Graduate Institute Geneva)

International Law after COVID-19

Chair: PIERRE THIELBÖRGER (IFHV, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

Previous sessions:

12 May 2020 – 4:00 – 5:45 pm

Session I: "Schaffen wir das?" – COVID-19 as a Crisis for German Law and Politics

Session II: 19 May 2020 – 4:00 – 5:45 pm

Session II: "Whatever it takes?" – COVID-19 as an (existential) crisis for the European Union