On November 4^th, the second “MQ-FU-HAM Tripartite International Law Seminar" was held in Fudan University Law School. The conference was on the theme of “International Law Conference Series 2019 - Recent Issues in International Law: Perspectives from China and Germany”, aiming to explore the important frontier issues related to public international law, international economic law and private international law from perspectives of China and Germany, to discuss the similarities and differences between the understandings of them from two sides, and to find solutions of these issues in both Chinese and German legal contexts.

The Conference was co-hosted and co-sponsored by Fudan University Law School (FLS) and the International Law Section of Shanghai Law Society. Nine international law teachers from FLS and eight international law scholars from Universita?t Hamburg Law School attended the meeting. Vice Dean Chen Li gave a welcome speech on behalf of Fudan University Law School. She reviewed the close academic relationship between FLS and Universita?t Hamburg Law School. She also expressed a warm welcome to the guests from Universita?t Hamburg and wished the one-day meeting a fruitful outcome.

The seminar in the morning focused on cutting-edge issues in the field of public international law. The first panel was hosted by Prof. Stefan Oeter of Universita?t Hamburg Law School. Prof. Zhang Naigen from FLS, Prof. Markus Kotzur from Universita?t Hamburg Law School, Associate Research fellow Mr. Chen Li from FLS and Ms. Manuela Niehaus, a PhD candidate from Universita?t Hamburg Law School successively delivered speeches on topic of “Institutionalization of Human Community with a Shared Future and Principle of International Law”, “Transnational Enterprises and Human Rights: Is There an Extraterritorial Duty to Protect by the Host State?”, “Case No. 26 Case concerning the detention of three Ukrainian naval vessels (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), Provisional Measures” and “Climate Change as a Human Rights Issue for Transnational Enterprises”.

The second panel of public international law is presided over by Prof. Zhang Naigen. Associate Prof. Lu Zhian from FLS, Prof. Florian Jessberger of Universita?t Hamburg Law School, Prof. Ma Zhongfa from FLS, Ms. Kalika Mehta, a PhD candidate of Universita?t Hamburg, and Dr. Zhu Dan of FLS successively gave keynote speeches on “Promoting Human rights by Cooperation: The Human Rights Issues in the Belt and Road Initiative”, “International Criminal Law - Trends and Traditions from a German Perspective”, “Legal Issues on Sustainable Development in the Countries Involving the Belt and Road Initiative”, “International Business, International Crime, and Strategic Litigation”, and “the Complementary Jurisdiction of ICJ and China”.

The seminar in the afternoon focused on frontier issues in international economic law and private international law. The international economic law section is chaired by Prof. Markus Kotzur. Prof. Stefan Oeter of Universita?t Hamburg Law School, Prof. Gong Baihua of FLS, Ms. Victoria Krol, a PhD candidate of Universita?t Hamburg Law School, and Ms. Li Yilin, a PhD candidate of FLS made academic reports in the section. Among them, Prof. Stefan Oeter and Prof. Gong Baihua analyzed the challenges and possible reform paths of WTO based on German and Chinese perspectives respectively. Ms. Victoria Krol discussed the social responsibility of transnational corporations in the perspective of international economic law. Ms. Li Yilin’s speech focused on “the Construction of the ‘Belt and Road’ Economic and Trade Rules from the Perspective of the theory of Community of Shared Future for Mankind”.

The Private International Law Section is chaired by Prof. Gong Baihua. Prof. Chen Li from FLS, Prof. Eva Van Der Zee from Universita?t Hamburg Law School, Prof. Gao Lingyun from FLS, and Mr. José Maria da Silva Reis, a Ph.D. candidate at Universita?t Hamburg Law School delivered keynote speeches in turn, on topic of “Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award under New York Convention in China”, “Sustainable Responsible Investment in International Investment Agreements: a Relational Contract Analysis”, “the Development of Family Trusts in China and Its Challenges to Private International Law” and “Opening Up International Adjudication: Mapping Procedural Transparency in International Disputes”. Prof. Sun Nanshen of Fudan Law school then put forward in-depth comments.

At the end of the meeting, Prof. Ma Zhongfa summarized the all-day meeting. Vice Dean Chen Li and Vice Dean Markus Kotzur exchanged gifts to each other on behalf of all the attendees of the conference. Prof. Zhang Naigen and Prof. Florian Jessberger then exchanged their newly published monographs. The conference ended successfully.

Fudan University, Universita?t Hamburg of Germany and Macquarie University of Australia established a tripartite strategic partnership in 2015. The 2019 tripartite international law seminar (Macquarie University is absent for some reasons) is a further implementation of the strategic partnership. The successful holding of the conference not only promoted the academic communication between Fudan and Hamburg scholars in the field of international law, but also further expanded the cooperation between Fudan University and Universita?t Hamburg Law School in the fields of exchange programs of teachers and students, academic research cooperation, degree programs construction and so on.

Correspondent: YE Ying, YANG Yuhan, LLM Student of International law, Class 2021