Foley Hoag LLP attorney Ofilio Mayorga will speak at the 24th annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL), being held June 30-July 2, 2016 at the Australian National University College of Law in Canberra, Australia. The theme of the conference is “International Law of the Everyday: Fieldwork, Friction, and Fairness.”

Mayorga’s presentation, “Applicability of Investment Treaties to Occupied Territories,” will discuss his current research on the intersection between the law of belligerent occupation and investment treaty law in light of Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014. Mayorga will explain that, under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, occupants are bound by Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in force in the occupied State. He will also relay how foreign investors may bring investment-treaty claims against an occupant for the breach of any right bestowed on them by the BITs of the de jure sovereign.

As a member of Foley Hoag’s International Litigation and Arbitration Department, Mayorga’s practice focuses on State-State and investor-State disputes before the world's principal dispute resolution bodies, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ICSID and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Before joining Foley Hoag, Mayorga was a Legal Associate in the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (HPCR). In this capacity, he conducted research in international humanitarian law and provided legal advice on issues related to the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict.

Established in 1992, ANZSIL aims to develop and promote the discipline of international law; support the teaching of international law; and provide a forum for academics, government lawyers, NGOs, students and practitioners of international law to discuss research and issues of practice in international law.