Institute of European Law Annual Lecture 2023

International Law as a Challenge to EU Law – The case of Western Sahara

Speaker: Dr Jed Odermatt (City Law School - City, University of London)

In recent years, the Court of Justice of the European Union has dealt with complex and sensitive issues that raise fundamental questions about the relationship between international and EU law. This lecture will address these questions by focusing on recent cases related to Western Sahara: How should a Court of a regional integration organization address questions related to occupation, self-determination and recognition? In which circumstances should international law be used to determine the validity of Union acts? To which extent should the Court interfere with the discretion of the Union institutions when acting on the international plane? This lecture will analyse the ways in which the Court has navigated these questions from the perspective of both EU and international law.

Dr Jed Odermatt is a Senior Lecturer at the City Law School, City, University of London where he is co-convenor of the International Law and Affairs Group (ILAG) and member of the Institute for the Study of European Law (ISEL). Jed’s research interests relate to public international law, international dispute settlement, the law of international organizations and EU external relations law. He is a Co-rapporteur of the International Law Association (ILA) Study Group International Law of Regional Organisations and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group EU as a Global Actor. Jed has been an academic visitor at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in Cambridge, the University of South Australia, and at the Department of European and Economic Law, University of Groningen. He was previously a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and a postdoctoral fellow at iCourts, University of Copenhagen. He is the author of International Law and the European Union (Cambridge University Press, 2021).