Hengstberger Award Prize Winner 2026
Brave Old World? Private Actors and the Return of Unilateral Regulation
For a long time, multilateral approaches dominated international regulatory practice. They pursued international harmonisation through consensus. Today, however, a return to unilateralism can be observed: Instead of international consensus, states are creating their own rules with extraterritorial reach.
The conference examines this return to the "old world" of unilateral international order from the perspectives of public international law, private international law, history, political science, and economics. It will explore how increasing unilateral regulation of private conduct fits into the broader crisis of the multilateral system of inter-state cooperation.
To this end, the conference will first examine the regulatory paradigm shift associated with unilateralism and its impact on international relations. This raises, in particular, the question of how relations between states are affected when one state unilaterally regulates activities within another state’s economic system. Such questions are especially pertinent to relations between the Global North and the Global South. Second, unilateral regulation by states with claims to global applicability can lead to conflicting requirements for transnational corporations. National legal systems must provide companies with effective means of addressing these conflicting obligations. Third, unilateralism is not a new phenomenon. Examining instances of unilateral regulation from the past can help to place its current development in historical perspective. Fourth, unilateralism cannot be considered solely from the perspective of public international law. Rather, it also affects individual interests and, consequently, private international law. This intersection between different disciplines of law will be explored to develop a holistic response to unilateralism and to challenge traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Event dates: 21–23 July 2027
Dr. Nina Benz
Institut für dt. und europ. Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsrecht
Universität Heidelberg
Friedrich-Ebert-Platz 2
69117 Heidelberg
Nina.Benz@igw.uni-heidelberg.de
JProf. Dr. Anton Zimmermann
Institut für ausl. und int. Privat- und Wirtschaftsrecht
Universität Heidelberg
Augustinergasse 9
69117 Heidelberg
Anton.zimmermann@ipr.uni-heidelberg.de