This is the first volume of proceedings arising from the biennial conference of the European Society of International Law/Societe europeene de droit international, edited by Emmanuelle Jouannet, Hélène Ruiz Fabri and Vincent Tomkiewicz. The volume presents the highlights of the Paris Conference 2006, and the papers are evenly divided between English and French language contributions. It is envisaged that this will be the first volume of a series, with future volumes following on from each major ESIL/SEDI event.