Opening Remarks at the International Law Weekend – By Muhammad U. Faridi, President

Good evening. My task tonight is simple. It is not to analyze the crises that fill our headlines, but to welcome you to the New York City Bar Association—your professional home away from home.

For more than 150 years, this Association has stood for justice and the rule of law. And for forty of those years, we’ve had the honor of opening International Law Weekend with our friends from the American Branch of the International Law Association. That tradition reminds us that while international law is written in treaties, it lives through people—communities like this—who give it voice and meaning.

This year’s theme, “Crisis as Catalyst in International Law,” could not be more timely. Around the world, crisis feels less like an interruption and more like a condition of daily life. We are relieved that the bombs have at last stopped falling in Gaza, but none of us can look away from what preceded the ceasefire—the staggering loss of civilian life, the displacement of families, and the paralysis of the international system in the face of so much human suffering. And Gaza is not alone. From the terrorist attacks that took place in Israel on October 7, to Ukraine to Sudan, from the South China Sea to the Sahel, the global order is straining under the weight of conflict, famine, and climate disruption.

At moments like these, we must ask: is international law merely a mirror of our crises—or can it still help resolve them?  History tells us that law can be a catalyst. The great advances in our field—from the Geneva Conventions to the creation of the ICC—were born not in calm but in catastrophe. The challenge for our generation is to act before disaster forces our hand again.

There are reasons for hope. Across the world, lawyers and advocates are using international law to pursue accountability, to defend the planet, and to amplify the voices of those most affected by war and displacement. The power of international law lies not only in states, but in people—people willing to insist that human dignity is not negotiable.

So as you begin your discussions this weekend, I hope you will see crisis not only as tragedy but as possibility. That you will treat law not as powerless, but as the instrument through which conscience becomes action.

Welcome to the New York City Bar Association—and to International Law Weekend 2025. May your conversations here help turn crisis into progress, and principle into peace.