Crisis or Transformation?

Today’s international order is shaped by overlapping crises armed conflicts, democratic backsliding, deepening inequalities, climate breakdown, pandemics and disruptive technologies. These developments strain the post 1945 multilateral system, undermine trust in international institutions and fuel perceptions that international law and human rights are either ineffective or selectively applied. In this light the panel asks from the perspective of the international, the European and the national level whether we are witnessing the decline of multilateralism or a contested transformation towards a different configuration of international law and human rights. It will examine the continuing capacity of the international law framework and human rights to constrain state power and provide protection, alongside the growing role of regional courts, e.g. the European Court of Human Rights. Ultimately, the panel will explore what forms of multilateralism could be both normatively defensible and politically viable, and whether the current turbulence constitutes crisis, transformation, or both.

The event also hosts the launch of the European Yearbook of Human Rights 2025, which will be presented prior to discussion.

Panelists:

- Kushtrim Istrefi (Utrecht University School of Law)

- Erika de Wet (Department of International Law and International Relations, University of Graz), 

- Philip Bittner (Federal Ministry European and International Affairs Republic of Austria)

The discussion will be moderated by Gerd Oberleitner and Lisa Heschl from the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (UNI-ETC).