The 10th Annual ICON·S Conference gathers 2,000 global experts at IE Tower

With a program entitled 'The Future of Public Law: Resilience, Sustainability, and Artificial Intelligence', the 10th Annual Conference of the International Society of Public Law (ICON·S), hosted by IE Law School at the IE Tower in Madrid from July 8 to 10, was a meeting point for 2,000 experts from around the world.

For three days, the event functioned as a cross-disciplinary scientific forum dedicated to exploring the challenges and advancements in public law. Throughout, academics, lawyers, and judges engaged in idea exchange, networking, and the initiation of collaborative projects.

This year's conference proposed a reflection on the future of public law and its role in tackling some of society's most pressing challenges. After a successful call for papers, attendees had the opportunity to participate in over 500 panels covering topics such as the digital public sphere, constitutionalism, human rights, and the role of artificial intelligence.

On the first day, following the welcome addresses by Soledad Atienza and Fernando Pastor, Dean and Vice-Dean of IE Law School, along with Richard Albert, outgoing Co-President of ICON-S, participants listened to a speech by Siofra O’Leary, President of the European Court of Human Rights.

In addition, two Plenary Panels were held throughout the conference. The first, titled "Sustainability, Climate Change and Human Rights" featured Imani Daud Aboud, President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Court); Nancy Hernández, President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Eleanor Sharpston, Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union; and Siofra O'Leary.

The second panel, sponsored by Fundación Notariado, addressed the ethical and regulatory challenges of AI in public law. It featured distinguished experts: Jaclyn L. Neo, Associate Professor of Law and the Director of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS); Anu Bradford, Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organizations at Columbia Law School; John Tasioulas, Professor of Ethics and Legal Philosophy and the inaugural Director of the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford; and François Delerue, Assistant Professor of Law at IE Law School.

Additionally, conference attendees had the opportunity to participate in a workshop led by Joseph H.H. Weiler, professor at New York University School of Law and Academic Director of the Master in International Legal Studies (LL.M) at IE Law School.

Concurrently, the forum also included social events such as the LGBTQI+ Breakfast Reception and the Women’s Lunch Reception.

The closing ceremony on July 10 featured several eminent speakers: Erin Delaney, Professor of Law with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University; Salvador Carmona, Rector of IE University; Marcela Prieto Rudolphy, Associate Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law; Chien-Chih Lin, Research professor at Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica and a Professor at Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University; Marta Cartabia, Professor of Constitutional Law at Università Bocconi, President Emeritus of the Italian Constitutional Court, and a former Minister of Justice of Italy; and Sergio Verdugo, Professor of Law at IE Law School, who was appointed Co-Chair of ICON-S alongside Professor Michaela Hailbronner from the University of Giessen. They replace the outgoing co-chairs, Marta Cartabia and Richard Albert.

The conference was sponsored by the research project PID2020-115834RA of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the following academic entities.