26–28 October 2026

About the Conference

The International Conference on Natural Law is an itinerant academic forum that each year convenes leading law faculties of the Catholic world to reflect on a contemporary legal problem from the perspective of natural law and the dignity of the human person.

History of the Conference

In 2004, the Law Faculties of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina agreed to hold an international seminar to be named the International Conference on Natural Law (hereinafter, the Conference). The first edition took place in 2005, in Santiago.

The seminar was created in response to the express request of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to revitalize the discussion of the great moral problems in light of the principles of the natural order.

In 2011, both universities decided to incorporate the Catholic University San Pablo, of Arequipa (Peru), as a co-organizer of the Conference. In 2016 the Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) was incorporated as a co-organizer, and in 2024, the San Ignacio de Loyola University (Peru), in the same capacity.

From the outset, the Conference set itself two objectives: to revitalize the discussion of humanity's great moral and legal problems in light of the principles of the natural order, supporting the production of knowledge and addressing in particular contemporary matters on which the natural law tradition has something to say; and to disseminate and communicate the doctrine of Natural Law, gathering and connecting each year scholars and others interested in the science of natural law and its implications for legal life in the 21st century.

Every edition of the Conference shares the same format, consisting of keynote lectures, workshops, communications and roundtables.

Since its first edition, the International Conference on Natural Law has been a meeting place for legal traditions, academic generations and disciplinary perspectives. Each edition has addressed a central problem of contemporary law: bioethics, social justice, the family, property, religious freedom, among others.

The XVIII edition returns to Santiago in 2026, organized by the Faculty of Law of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. This edition is also co-organized by the Law School of the University of Notre Dame and the Law School of Ave Maria University, both in the United States.

The 2026 theme: freedom of expression in the digital era

Freedom of expression is one of the pillars of democratic societies. During the twentieth century it was understood as a freedom against the State: the citizen had to be protected from public censorship. In the twenty-first century, most of the public conversation occurs on private infrastructure, governed by opaque rules and designed according to commercial incentives.

At the same time, generative artificial intelligence tools allow synthetic content —deepfakes, cloned voices, falsely attributed texts— to be produced at marginal cost close to zero. This raises urgent questions about truth, responsibility, attribution of speech and the integrity of the democratic process.

The Conference proposes to address these challenges from the natural law tradition, which offers a framework to articulate the basic human goods —truth, communication, political participation— as criteria for the evaluation of technological regulation.

Academic focus

Human dignity as a normative criterion in the design and regulation of digital platforms.
Technological governance from a comparative and international law perspective.
Digital public sphere, democratic deliberation and the common good.
The role of the State, the courts and platforms in the moderation of speech.
Generative artificial intelligence, synthetic content and attribution of responsibility.