Dr Bjorge chairing a panel of Dr Mario Mendez, Dr Ruth Houghton, and Professor Joanna Harrington.
Final panel of the conference: Dr Bjorge flanked by Murray Hunt, Helen Mountfield QC, and Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC.
Press release issued: 29 March 2018
Dr Eirik Bjorge co-organised a conference entitled ‘Treaties, Brexit, and the Constitution’, held on 23 March 2018 at Jesus College, University of Oxford. The conference set out to scrutinise UK law on treaties and offer realistic recommendations on constitutional settlement for parliamentarians.
Co-organised with Arabella Lang (Senior Library Clerk, House of Commons) and Dr Ewan Smith (Shaw Foundation Junior Research Fellow at Jesus College, University of Oxford), the event brought together practitioners, academics, judges, and lawyers from the Houses of Parliament and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
During the one-day conference UK law on treaties was examined through a constitutional lens, with the aim of drawing problems in sharper relief and suggesting some practicable solutions for parliamentarians on the question of treaties, Brexit and the British Constitution.
Topics discussed included Parliament’s role in negotiating and implementing treaty obligations, as well as parliamentary sovereignty and the implications of Miller's case. Devolution settlements and issues were also considered, along with constitutional treaties and international comparison.
The planned outcome of the proceedings is a paper that sums up the conclusions of the conference. The outcome will be likely to be published in due course on the website of the Library of the House of Commons.
Further information
Dr Eirik Bjorge is Senior Lecturer in Public International Law at the University of Bristol Law School. He has advised States, private entities and individuals on matters of public international law, human rights law, and constitutional law. He has acted as counsel and adviser, and provided expert opinions, in cases before the domestic courts, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, and tribunals set up under the auspices of ICSID. He has also provided training on matters of international law, human rights law, and constitutional law to domestic judges, and government officials.
For further information about legal news, events and research related to Brexit please visit the Law School’s Brexit Centre website.
