This post was originally published in the now defunct blog A First Taste of Law, and covered the International Law Students’ Association’s early activities in India. This may now make a very interesting read for those who are law students currently or are familiar with the work of ILSA.

Well, if you have heard of ILSA, that is probably because it organises the famous Jessup moot in Washington. The first chapter of ILSA in India was constituted in NUJS in 2007. Since then, ILSA activities in India have intensified, and NUJS won the bid for organising the annual conference of ILSA during the last annual conference in Bello Horizonte, Brazil.

The 2nd ILSA International Conference, 2009 was held over a period of four days from 22nd to 25th July 2009 at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, India. The theme for the conference was, “Trade and the Environment: Does International Law Have the Answers?” Like any other international conference it had a list of acclaimed keynote speakers, but it was made special by the young visitors who flocked the NUJS campus and the conference venue, and even rocked the party to mark the end of a 4 day festivity. The conference had about three hundred visitors, mostly students from different universities in India and the rest of the world (see below for a list of the colleges that participated).

The first Keynote address was delivered on 22nd July, immediately after the Opening Ceremony in the Royal Bengal Room at the City Centre in Salt Lake, followed by a Grand Dinner. It was followed by a lecture on Conflicting Multilateral Treaties and the WTO, delivered by Professor Reifenberg from the University of Michigan. Presentations began in the university in all earnest from the next day. Classes were suspended in NUJS from 23rd to 25th July, as the entire infrastructural setup of the university, including all the classrooms, was used to host the conference. Of course, the announcement came as a breather for NUJS Students.

The Thai Consul to Kolkata presented a paper titled ‘How Trade Deals with Unsustainable Development in Marine Life Sources’. More keynote addresses were held in the newly built auditorium (it can host 400 in the audience as of now) in NUJS. Keynote speaker Bill McKibben, who has written for numerous American newspapers, delivered a lecture on ‘Charter for Human responsibilities Panel on Climate Change’. Mr. Nitya Nand from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, delivered a speech on titled ‘Environmentalism versus Mercantilism’. The valedictory address was given by Dr. Philippe Cullet from the University of London.

On the 24th of July, an indefinite transport strike had been called in Kolkata, and public transport was unavailable. The organizers had some backup plans, and the conference went on smoothly, with 4 privately arranged Toyota Innovas and a fleet of Kolkata Cabs being used to receive arriving participants.

The end of the conference was marked by the party for volunteers and participants at a club ‘the Shack’ at Mani Square Mall, and party is said to have lasted almost the entire night. The floor, it is heard, was choc-a-bloc; and people, after all the hard work put into the conference, partied harder than ever. Amity Boye, the ILSA Executive Director, and Caroline Cowen, who was the Jessup Outreach Coordinator in 2008-2009, and Julia Riley, the Student Vice President of the ILSA, were also present at the party.

The keynote speakers and ILSA personnel told us they were truly impressed by the show put up at NUJS: both the organization of the event and the quality of papers presented. It seems the second ILSA conference was a big success, for everyone who took part.

Another interesting consequence of this conference is that now many Law Universities in India have set up ILSA Chapters. The most recent one was set up by Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. They are planning to organize an international moot court competition, which is going to be an ILSA event. Kinshuk and Prachi Jhunjhunwala, President and Chief-Coordinator of the Organising Committee, respectively, of the ILSA Conference in NUJS, have recently visited the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneshwar to inaugurate an ILSA event. To host an ILSA Conference, concerned institutes have to submit bids, outlining how they would be able to host the event. The theme for the conference, the choice keynote speakers to be invited is left up to the bidders. We hope the conference held in NUJS would lead to greater awareness about the importance of networking among law students, at a national as well as an international level.

List of Colleges that participated

• National Law Universities

NLSIU, Bangalore, NALSAR, Hyderabad. NUJS, Kolkata, National Law University (NLU), Jodhpur, National Law University (NLU-D), Delhi, NUALS, Cochin, Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur, Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar, National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal, Rajiv Gandhi National Law University (RGNLU), Patiala, Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University (RMLNLU), Lucknow, Chanakya National Law University, Patna

• Other Indian Universities

University Institute of Legal Studies, Patiala, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneshwar, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun as well as the Bidholi Campus, Nirma University Institute of Law, University of Allahabad (Law Faculty), Amity Law School, Delhi, Army Institute of Law, Mohali, Christ University, Bangalore, ILS Law College, Pune, Symbiosis Law College, Pune, Punjab University

• Foreign Universities

University of Otago, New Zealand, Moi University, Kenya, Rivers State University, Nigeria, University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, Bahcesehir University, School of Law, Turkey, Australian National University, University of Missouri, Columbia