GLaw-Net Seminar ’International Law and the Absurd’ with Wouter Werner

After short Christmas break, the Globalization and Law Network (GLaw-Net) resumed its bi-weekly seminars with invited experts who study the role of law in a globalizing world. On 11 January 2023, the GLaw-Net welcomed Professor Wouter Werner (International Law at the Centre for the Politics of Transnational Law of the VU Amsterdam), who presented his recent paper with an exciting title "International Law and the Absurd". Dr Aleksandre Skander Galand acted as a discussant. The seminar was co-organized with the department of Foundations and Methods of Law (chaired by Professor Roland Pierik). The presentation by Professor Werner sat at the intersection of international law of treaties and legal philosophy. He focused on Article 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), which precludes the interpretation of the treaty when it 'leads to a result which is manifestly absurd'. However, it remains obscure what is meant by the 'absurd'.