A presentation named 'Populism, the pandemic and prospects for international law' was presented by Professor Campbell McLachlan QC and chaired by Dame Susan Glazebrook (Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand) on 29 September 2020.

The rise of populism in a number of democratic states has been a striking feature of contemporary global politics. A key populist tenet has been its claim to protect the people against external forces. Despite this, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the implications of populism for international law. Yet its effects are now being put to the test under the extreme conditions of the global pandemic.

Against this background, Professor McLachlan asks: what are the prospects for the capacity of the international legal system to respond to the current crisis?

Campbell McLachlan QC is a Professor at Victoria Law School. In 2019 he was a senior research fellow in the Berlin-Potsdam Research Group International rule of law: rise or decline? In 2021 he is elected to the Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professorship of Legal Science in the University of Cambridge. He is currently serving as one of a 16-member Commission of the Institute of International Law on Pandemics and International Law.