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 .

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