Youth Forum: Decolonising International Law — South Asian Perspectives

IILD released the findings of its nationwide pre-election opinion survey at a public event attended by political analysts, journalists, and party representatives. The survey, conducted with technical support from Projection BD and Jagaran Foundation, was notable for its scale and for the transparency of its methodology. The findings received significant national and international media coveragIILD convened a one-day youth forum bringing together law students, early-career researchers, and young legal practitioners to examine the colonial foundations of international law and their contemporary implications for South Asian states. Discussions ranged from the persistent influence of Eurocentric concepts of sovereignty and statehood, to the structural inequities embedded in international economic law, to the underrepresentation of Southern voices in international legal institutions. Participants engaged with both the critiques developed by Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars and with the practical question of how legal professionals in countries like Bangladesh can contribute to reforming the frameworks they work within. The forum concluded with a joint statement calling for greater inclusion of non-Western legal traditions in legal education curricula across the region.e and contributed to a broader public conversation about electoral expectations in a transitional political environment.