The First Postgraduate Symposium on International Law was held at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University
On 17 May 2025, the St. Petersburg State University Faculty of Law hosted the First Postgraduate Symposium on the topic "The Court-Centric Approach of International Law: Pro et Contra".
The event was held in cooperation with the leading academic and research centers in Russia: St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg), HSE University (Moscow), I. Kant BFU Center for International and European Law (Kaliningrad), Ural State Law University (Yekaterinburg), and the International and Comparative Law Research Center (Moscow).
The symposium was also supported by the HSE Journal of International Law and the International Justice Journal.
The goal was not only to academically discuss a current topic in international law but also to create a constructive platform and community for professional dialogue between young researchers and recognised experts in the field of international law, including the testing of dissertation research through the lens of the proposed meta-topic.
The symposium was opened by Roman Kolodkin, Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, who delivered an introductory lecture setting the framework for the subsequent discussion.
Each presentation by the postgraduates was accompanied by detailed comments from senior colleagues, allowing them to look at the problem under study from different angles and receive valuable recommendations on possible further work on the topic. This format is especially valuable in the early stages of scientific work and allows for the testing of ideas even before the final defense of dissertations.
The organisers express their gratitude to Ilya Rachkov (HSE lecturer (Moscow) and master's program in Public International Law at St. Petersburg State University), Valentina Tereshkova (associate professor at the Department of International Law, St. Petersburg State University), Vera Rusinova (professor at HSE (Moscow)), Aleksei Petrenko (associate professor at HSE (Moscow), senior researcher in public international law at the CMPSI), Anastasia Turkina (associate professor at I. Kant BFU), Andrey Lunev (senior lecturer at Ural State Law University), Maxim Likhachev (associate professor at Ural State Law University), Dmitry Bartenev, Olga Sidorovich, Marina Trunk-Fedorova (associate professor at the Department of Administrative and Financial Law, St. Petersburg State University), Ksenia Shestakova (associate professor at the Department of Constitutional Law, St. Petersburg State University) for their interest in the project and involvement in its implementation.
The First Postgraduate Symposium was an important step in developing scientific dialogue between young and experienced researchers. The organizers express their gratitude to all partners, participants, and experts for their trust, support, and enthusiasm and announce the continuation of the tradition in 2026.