Conference on Ethical leadership in international organizations

The Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights organized a high-profile international 2-day conference on leadership and ethics in international organizations and global governance.

The conference marked the end of Professor Jan Klabbers’ five-year Martti Ahtisaari Chair, Academy of Finland Professorship devoted to the theme Towards a Credible Ethics for Global Governance and focusing on the professional roles of relevant actors. More information on the background and aims of the conference can be found in the press release.

The conference Ethical Leadership in International Organizations: Con­cepts, Nar­rat­ives, Judg­ment and As­sess­ment took place on June 7-8, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland.

Ethical Leadership in International Organizations:

Con­cepts, Nar­rat­ives, Judg­ment and As­sess­ment

June 7-8, 2018

Unioninkatu 33

Thursday, June 7th

9.15-11.00 Opening keynote lecture by Professor Raimond Gaita (University of Melbourne / King's College London)

11.00-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-13.00 Morning Session: Conceptual Framework

  • Mervyn Frost (King's College London): A Common Ethical Framework for International Action: Who Is Responsible for What in World Politics?
  • Jens Steffek (Technische Universität Darmstadt): The Virtues of Technocracy: International Organizations as Modern Utopia
  • Rene Urueña (Universidad de Los Andes): Virtue in Algorithms? Law and Ethics in Algorithmic Governance

13.00-14.30 Break, lunch for speakers

14.30-16.00 Afternoon Session I: Observing and Narrating

  • Jane Cowan (University of Sussex): Virtue and the Universal Periodic Review
  • Manuel Fröhlich (Trier University): Ethics and Leadership in UN Peace Operations: The Special Representatives of the Secretary-General
  • Jan Klabbers (University of Helsinki): The Judiciary and Virtues

16.00-16.30 Coffee break

16.30-18.15 Afternoon Session II: Practical Ethics in International Organizations

  • Jennifer Rubenstein (University of Virginia) What Can Humanitarian and Development INGOs Learn From Activist Social Movements?
  • Lorenzo Casini (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca): Ethics in International Sporting Institutions
  • Maria Varaki (University of Helsinki): Ethics and Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees
  • Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça (University of Helsinki): Ethical Leadership in the WHO

Friday, June 8th

10.00-11.30 Morning Session: Evaluating and Assessing

  • Erik Voeten (Georgetown University): Backlash and Judicial Restraint: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights
  • Sanne H.S. Taekema (Erasmus University Rotterdam): The Rule of Law Between Ethics and Social Science: Some Methodological Considerations
  • Amalia Amaya (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México): Exemplarism, Virtue, and Leadership in International Organizations

11.30-12.00 Concluding observations