2025: Small States, Big Futures: A Decade of Dialogue
12-13 November 2025
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
49 Park Lane, London W1K 1PS
Agenda
WEDNESDAY 12 November 2025
9:00: Registration
9:30: Welcome
9:45: Keynote Panel - 10 years of the annual Small States Conference
Chair: James Bridgeman SC FCIArb, Barrister, Chartered Arbitrator, Certified Mediator, Construction Adjudicator, The Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
Milton Pavia, President and co-founder on the Instituto Politécnico Democracia e Desenvolvimento, Cape Verde
Professor Baldur Thorhallsson, Research Director of the Centre for Small State Studies, University of Iceland
Dr Winani Thebele, Honorary Research Associate, National Museum of Liverpool Small States: A Reflection on Their Impact and Visibility in Current Global Debates and Emerging Partnerships in the Heritage Sector
10:45: Coffee Break
11:00-12:00: Panel I: Small States & Commerce
Chair: Dr Nicole Pierce, Lecturer in Law, Goldsmith University, Deputy Director, Institute of Small and Micro States
Iain Sandford, Partner, Foley Hoag LLP, Paris Interactions between the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
Tara Marie Rose, Acting Executive Director, Anti-dumping and Subsidies Commission, Jamaica Safeguarding Fair Trade: The Role of the Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission in Jamaica’s Economic Resilience
Jivaan Bennett, Barrister at Temple Tax Chambers Tax Law as a Catalyst for Small State Resilience
12:00-13:00: Panel II: Small States & Cultural Heritage
Chair: Kristin Hausler, Dorset Senior Fellow, Director of the Centre for International Law, BIICL
Dr Evelien Campfens, Lawyer, University of Amsterdam From Loss to Return: Challenges and Opportunities for Small States in Regaining Cultural Heritage
Professor Anne-Marie Carstens, Associate Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law Occupation, Autonomous Zones, and Cultural Heritage
Dr Andrzej Jakubowski, Lawyer & Art Historian at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Role of Small States in Safeguarding the World’s Cultural Diversity
13:00-14:00: Lunch Break
14:00-15:00 Panel III: Small States & Technology
Chair: Marleen Krueger, Partner, WilmerHale
Dr Radika Kumar, Adviser for Artificial Intelligence & Transformative Technology, Commonwealth Secretariat Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Small States Development: Challenges/Opportunities and Recommendations
Professor Crenguta Leaua, Director of the Swiss Institute of Alternative Thinking Mundialisation of Artificial Intelligence: The Role of Small States in Shaping a Humanity-Centred AI
Professor Manuel Gomez, Professor of Law, Florida International University Small States and Web3: Navigating the Legal Disputes’ Landscape
Em Professor Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor, University of Auckland, (recording) Digital trade, E-commerce, and the Implications of Global Trade Agreements on Pacific Island Nations
15:00-15:15 Coffee break
15:15-16:15 Panel IV: Small States & Boundaries
Chair: Lucia Bizikova, Associate, WilmerHale
Robert Volterra, Partner Volterra Fietta Maritime Boundaries
Dr Ricky Lee, Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury The Role of Small States in the Global Space Sector as Niche Innovators or Launchpads of Convenience: Selected Lessons from Kiribati, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, and Tonga
Dr Helen Kavvadia, Researcher in Residence, University of Luxembourg Luxembourg’s vertical expansion: From Landlocked to unlimited in space
16:15 End of day 1
THURSDAY 14 November 2025
09:00-09:30 Registration
09:30-10:30 Panel V Small States & Disaster
Chair: Michael Greenop, Counsel, WilmerHale
Professor Ilan Kelman, Professor of Disaster and Health, University College London. Scientists Supporting Law for Small States
Kevin Bampton, Chief Executive Officer of the British Occupational Hygiene Society. Small States and COVID-19: Lessons Learned in Global Pandemic Politics
Nicole Foster, Law Lecturer & Head, Law and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies. SIDS on the Frontline and the Forefront: Combatting the Climate Emergency Through the Use of International Law
10:30-10:45 Coffee break
10:45-11:45 Panel VI Lawyers & Judges
Chair: Alice Lacourt, Legal Counsel, Commonwealth Secretariat
Professor Petra Butler, Executive Dean, University of Canterbury Judicial Diversity in Small Commonwealth States
Ambeng Kandakasi, Deputy Chief Justice, National and Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea Initiatives and Innovations of Small Pacific Island Judiciaries
Dr Andrew Butler KC, Barrister, Thorndon Chambers The Qualified Recognition of an Undemocratically Adopted Constitution- New Insights from Fiji
11:45-13:00 Panel VII Migrants
Chair: Dr Irene Antonopoulos, Senior Lecturer in Law, Department of Law and Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Naren Prasad, Head of Education & Training, International Labour Organisation. Indenture as Slavery 2.0: Small Islands, Enduring Legacies
Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci, Arthur Watts Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Director of Teaching and Training, BIICL Migration from, through and to Small States: Malta as a Case Study of Evolving Dynamics
Professor Sue Farran, Professor of Comparative and Plural Laws, University of Newcastle A Reflection of the diverse security dimensions of migration in the Pacific
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:15 Panel VIII Dispute Resolution I
Chair: Godwin Tan, Associate at A&O Shearman LLP, London
Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky, Partner at BakerHostetler LLP, New York The potential value of wider adoption of expedited investor-state arbitration mechanisms for small states
Dominic Roughton, Partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, London How dispute resolution has evolved over the last decade for small or micro-states
Ashique Rahman, Co-founder and Partner at Saadeh Rahman LLP, London The experience of small states in investor-State arbitration
Martin Polaine, Barrister & Arbitrator, Amicus Legal Consultants The integration of ESG and Human Rights Obligations into International Investment Law: Opportunity or Pitfall for a Small State?
15:15-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-16:30 Dispute Resolution II (strategy)
Chair: Pranay Lekhi, Associate at A&O Shearman LLP, London
Professor Rachel Cahill O’Callaghan, Professor, University of Cardiff Disrupting Bias
Dr Brian McGarry, Assistant Professor, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University Small States and the Future of Collective Action before International Courts
Tony Langham, Executive Chair & Co-Founder, Lansons Is it time for the UK to love the “British Family”?
Daniel Stewart, Founder and Executive Director, Independent International Legal Advocates (IILA) The Role of Small States in International Law
16:30-17:00 End of the Conference Reflection Panel
Chair: Steven P. Finizio, Partner, WilmerHale
Professor Petra Butler, Executive Dean, University of Canterbury
Professor Crenguta Leaua, Director of the Swiss Institute of Alternative Thinking
Dr Winani Thebele, Honorary Research Associate, National Museum of Liverpool
Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci, Arthur Watts Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Director of Teaching and Training, BIICL
17:00 Post Conference Drinks & Canapes