On October 13, Professor Milena Sterio participated in an expert group discussion, organized by the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, with Latvian State Secretary Aivars Puriņš on European security and US-NATO cooperation.

State Secretary Puriņš traveled to Cleveland as part of a German Marshall Fund Across America trip focused on the state of transatlantic defense cooperation and the deep ties that connect Americans and European communities across the Atlantic. Ohio has a large defense manufacturing sector, and participants in this trip will engage with state and local elected officials, students, and business leaders to further the discussion around what it means to be part of NATO and the importance of the alliance’s role in security and prosperity in the United States and Europe.

Professor Sterio serves on the Cleveland Council on World Affairs’ Board of Directors.  

Professor Milena Sterio co-organized and participated in the American Society of International Law’s Midyear Meeting, which took place in Cleveland from September 25 to 27.  Professor Sterio co-chaired the Midyear Meeting and helped organize the entire conference, which consisted of the Practitioners’ Forum, held at Jones Day, and the Research Forum, held at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. 

During the Practitioners’ Forum, on September 25, Professor Sterio moderated a panel on the topic of “Algorithms on Trial: Navigating the Nine-Figure Litigation Minefield of Generative AI.”  During the Research Forum, on September 26, Professor Sterio presented her paper, on the topic of “The Role of International, Regional, and Domestic Courts in Transitions Toward Peace and Security.” On September 27, she also moderated a panel on the topic of “Accountability under International Legal Frameworks.”

On September 11, Professor Milena Sterio presented her research at the European Society of International Law Conference in Berlin, Germany. Her paper, “The Role of International, Regional, and Domestic Courts in Transitions Toward Democracy,” was selected through a highly competitive call-for-papers process.

In her work, Professor Sterio examines how courts can play an essential role in supporting peace and democracy when traditional global security mechanisms falter. She argues that the United Nations Security Council—long the cornerstone of international peace and security since 1945—has become increasingly paralyzed. In this context, judicial bodies at the international, regional, and domestic levels may step in to fill the void.

When courts determine that a state has violated international law, or that a leader bears responsibility for atrocity crimes, they not only advance transitional justice but may also help restore peace and security within affected regions. Professor Sterio’s scholarship highlights the evolving role of courts in shaping pathways toward democracy in times of crisis.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the European Society of International Law Conference in Berlin, Germany, on September 11, on the topic of “The Role of International, Regional, and Domestic Courts in Transitions Toward Democracy.”  Professor Sterio’s paper was selected from a competitive call-for-papers.  In this paper, Professor Sterio argues that because our traditional peace and security apparatus, which has existed since 1945 through the United Nations Security Council, is mostly paralyzed, we may need to increasingly turn toward courts.  When international, regional, or domestic courts proclaim that a state is responsible for an international law violation or that a specific country leader ought to bear individual criminal responsibility for the commission of atrocity crimes, courts thereby play a role in transitional justice, and may contribute toward a re-establishment of peace and security in a region.  

Professor Milena Sterio participated in an event at the United Nations in New York City on August 26 on the topic of “The ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the BBNJ Agreement.” The BBNJ Agreement, also known as the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, is an agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Professor Sterio also participated in the International Humanitarian Law Roundtable on the topic of “The United Nations at 80 – Relevancy and Challenges for International Criminal Justice in the Coming Decades” in Chautauqua, New York, on August 24-25. 

Professor Sterio moderated a discussion group on “Facilitating the delivery of international criminal justice at the regional and national level.” This discussion group focused on prosecutions based on universal jurisdiction, the role of the investigative mechanisms, the creation of internationalized domestic tribunals (Syria), and the new Ukraine-Council of Europe aggression tribunal.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at various discussion groups at the Southeast American Law Schools Association (SEALS) conference in Amelia Island, Florida.  On July 29, Prof. Sterio participated in the discussion group on “Current Trends in Emerging Technologies and the Law from the International, Comparative, and Domestic Perspective.”  On July 30, she participated in the discussion group on “Environmental Crimes in the Ukraine Conflict.”  And on August 2, she participated in the discussion group on “The Geneva Conventions: 75 Years Later.”

Professor Milena Sterio has been selected as a member of the International Law Association‘s newly established Rights of Nature Committee, as a representative of the American Branch of the International Law Association. In this capacity, Professor Sterio will collaborate with ILA colleagues on the development of the Committee’s inaugural report which will be issued in March 2025.

Professor Sterio also has been nominated and elected a member of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs for a three-year term starting in 2025. The CCWA was founded in 1923 to foster greater understanding of world affairs amongst citizens of Cleveland, with the notion that better international understanding would help promote world peace. Its mission is to promote engagement in international affairs and world cultures through education, citizen diplomacy and public dialogue.