Lecture 03: Is Social Justice Still a Relevant Concept in International Relations?

Lecture 03: Is Social Justice Still a Relevant Concept in International Relations? by Marcelo G. Kohen The concept of Social Justice is at the core of the work of the ILO from its very beginning and its importance goes beyond the realm of this organization. In this lecture, Professor Kohen examines the manner in which social justice is reflected in the content of contemporary international law. The presentation addresses the concept of social justice, and explains that the existing international legal system has incorporated the notion of social justice in its corpus but still much is necessary to be done to implement it in practice. About Marcelo G. Kohen Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Titular Member of the Institut de Droit International and its Secretary-General between 2015and 2024. Founder of the Latin American Society of International Law and its first Director-General. He is currently Judge ad hoc at the Intenational Tribunal for the Law of Sea and has acted as advocate and counsel before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for various States of Latin America, Asia and Europe. He has been arbitrator in more than twenty international investment tribunals. Member of the UNCLOS list of arbitrators, Member of the list of candidates likely to be appointed president of arbitral tribunals in the framework of European Union trade agreements, Member of the Argentine-Chilean Permanent Conciliation Commission (2022), Rapporteur of the Council of Europe, the International Law Association and the Institut de Droit International on matters of succession or jurisdictional immunity of States. He is one of the co-founders of the Geneva LLM dispute resolution program (MIDS). Author of more than 100 publications in French, English and Spanish in the field of International Law, including his book Possession contestée et souveraineté territoriale (Adverse Possession and Territorial Sovereignty) (Presses universitaires de France, 1997) awarded the Paul Guggenheim Prize in 1997. He has contributed numerous times to the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law and has taught courses in UN, ITLOS and OAS programs, as well as in numerous universities. About the Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series The Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series is an initiative of the Office of the Legal Adviser of the International Labour Organization (ILO) aimed at sparking academic reflection, disseminating knowledge and raising awareness about the ILO’s mandate and its legal and normative work. It also seeks to strengthen the ILO’s long-standing ties with legal scholars and practitioners. This initiative has its origins in the ILO100 Law for Social Justice academic conference, which took place in 2019 during the celebrations of the ILO’s centenary and which resulted in the ILO100 Law for Social Justice publication. The story of CW Jenks’ over 40 years of service exemplifies the foresight and leadership needed.