The Melland Schill lectures

As part of our research, we have revived the prestigious Melland Schill Lectures, a historical series of public lectures dealing with international law.

Distinguished lecturers will deliver a single public lecture and the text of the lecture, and any multimedia material, will be made available on the MILC website shortly afterwards.

The new series

On 14 October 2014, John Dugard delivered the first Melland Schill lecture since 1974. His lecture entitled “Are existing states sacrosanct?" attracted a large audience from all over the North West of England as well as many colleagues from partner universities. John Dugard, an ad hoc Judge at the International Court of Justice, an emeritus Professor of the University of Leiden and a distinguished scholar, spoke about the deficiency and unfairness of the current rules pertaining to statehood and the birth of states in international law. He particularly took issue with the principles of territorial integrity and uti possidetis, also calling international lawyers to take the criteria found in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States more seriously. His lecture was followed by a lively discussion on the ability of international law to provide guidance on the birth of new states.

• Watch John Dugard deliver the lecture

The second Melland Schill lecture took place in May 2016.

The initial series - newly digitised

In conjunction with Manchester University Press, the original publishers, the University of Manchester Library has digitised the initial series of Melland Schill Lectures delivered between 1961 and 1974. As a result of this innovative Open Access partnership, previously unavailable and highly prized scholarly resources are now freely accessible to researchers around the world.

Former legal adviser to the Treasury, Sir Michael Wood, presents the newly digitised Melland Schill lectures and outlines their continuing scholarly value to an invited audience.