INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF COMPARATIVE LAW
General Congresses
After the two first congresses of the Academy organized in 1932 and 1937, General Congresses have been held every four years without exception since 1950. Most of the General Congresses have taken place in Europe but they have also been held three times in the Americas, twice in Australia and once in Asia. The next General Congress will take place in Asunción in 2022.
20 general congresses since 1932
2022
XXIth GENERAL CONGRESS ASUNCIÓN (PARAGUAY)
Venue: to be confirmed
Host: CEDEP – Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Economía y Política
2018
XXth GENERAL CONGRESS FUKUOKA (JAPAN)
Venue: Kyushu University Ito Campus “Shiiki-Hall”. Fukuoka International Congress Center.
Host: XXth General Congress Organizing Committee
2014
XIXth GENERAL CONGRESS VIENNA (AUSTRIA)
Lieu : Université de Vienne, Autriche
Hôte : Interdisciplinary Association of Comparative and Private International Law (IACPIL) et Interdisziplinäre Gesellschaft für Komparatistik und Kollisionsrecht (IGKK) en coopération avec l’Université de Vienne, l’Institut suisse de droit comparé et la Pan European University Bratislava
Selection of topics
Members of the Academy suggest topics for each General Congress. The Secretary-General of the Academy proceeds to a pre-selection of final topics. Members of the Academy vote for the final topics. The number of topics at each General Congress has increased to about thirty. For the XXIth General Congress, over 300 topics were proposed, approximately 100 were pre-selected. The final list contains 36 topics.
Selection of general rapporteurs
One or two “General Rapporteurs” are appointed by the Secretariat to elaborate the comparative study on each topic on the basis of the work of Special rapporteurs. The Secretary-General of the Academy appoints the General Rapporteurs with the clear objective of guaranteeing representativeness and diversity among the rapporteurs.
Selection of special rapporteurs
The selection of Special Rapporteurs continues to be a challenging endeavour. It is evidently necessary to pay attention to the evolution of the law as well as to the emergence of new fields, but also to the modifications of the many factors which impact the law. For instance, the unavoidable finding that the State has lost its legislating monopole must be taken into account when planning congresses and requires to work with both national and non-national “Special” Rapporteurs. The National Special Rapporteurs are first appointed by the National Committees of the Academy. General Rapporteurs further appoint Non-National Special Rapporteurs (presenting the law and practice of an international institution, a group of countries, the particular vision of a specialist etc.) and National Special Rapporteurs (for those jurisdictions for which no rapporteur has been appointed by a National Committee.
