In Part 1 of this series, I likened postgraduate studies to rollercoasters for provoking peaks and troughs alike. Students begin their degrees with curiosity and glee. For an academic, there is probably nothing more satisfying than an inaugural LLM or PhD lecture: students smile at each other, laugh at our jokes, and sometimes even applaud our performances. To the delight...
[Sean Bain has worked on justice and democracy issues in Myanmar since 2013, including as Yangon-based legal adviser for a human rights group and as an analyst for the United Nations.] Photo credit: "SK/Kachinwaves"; "Anti-coup protest in Myanmar's northern Kachin State, 8 May 2021" The unlawful military coup of 1 February is not a fait accompli, and States must refuse to recognise...
[Vivek Bhatt is a Senior Research Officer at the University of Essex and a member of the Essex Human Rights Centre. The project ‘Ensuring Respect for Human Rights in Locked-down Care Homes’ is funded by the AHRC as part of its UKRI COVID-19 Rapid Response funding scheme. Grant number: AH/V012770/1.] Photo: Sarah Tew, CNET In February 2021, the UK...
Rollercoasters are not for everyone. Some celebrate the speed, courage, and maybe even fright that accompanies the ride; the thrill is exhilarating. Others, like my cousin Ahmed, sneer at the foolishness of their counterparts (me). He does not hide his glee when I stumble out of the car, confident he made the right decision when I turn varying shades of...
[Shamik Datta, a student at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad, is interested in human rights law, gender studies, and public policy.] Photo credit: Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images Amidst the rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe, the French Senate seeks to impose a ban on minors wearing headscarves and veils- the burqa and the niqab. This recent development...
Summer School Al-Haq International Law Online Summer School Program: Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law is pleased to announce its Seventh International Law Summer School for professionals, legal researchers, post-graduates and academics in the fields of international law and human rights. The 2021 program will run entirely online through ten days from 31st May – 12th June 2021. The summer school aims to assist professionals...
[Clive Baldwin is a senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch.] The use of the word ‘apartheid’ in its legal meaning can sometimes, but not always, generate considerable power and attention. The related crime against humanity of persecution never seems to attract the same interest. Our finding in 2020 that the Myanmar authorities were committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against ethnic Rohingya...
One year ago, I accepted the role of Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies. I did not act on a whim. Throughout my academic career, I’ve held many management roles from Director of Postgraduate Studies to Director of Internationalisation and plenty of others in between. A deanship was the natural—and, frankly, desirable—next step. Over...
Call for Papers Call for papers on “The Potential of Public Interest Litigation in International Law”: As there is growing interest in using international courts in the public interest, this project, funded by the University of Exeter and the University of Geneva, aims at analysing what challenges lie ahead and how to overcome them. In order to tackle these questions, the organisers...
By Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ's Middle East and North Africa Programme Since the start of Syria’s uprising in March 2011, Russia and China have vetoed 16 Draft United Nations Security Council (SC) Resolutions aimed at addressing the plight of the Syrian population and ending the scourge of armed conflict. As a result, the SC has failed to: Establish the UN Independent Mechanism of Investigation to...
[Alexander Wolffenbuttel is a Ph.D. student in International Law at the Graduate Institute Geneva. He is a former legal consultant at the International Criminal Court and a former apprentice at Sjöcrona van Stigt advocaten defending Oleg Pulatov. The opinions and comments expressed in this publication are those of the author.] Photo credit: BBC MH-17 Trial: U.S. Satellite Imagery and Foreign Confidential Intelligence...
[Parisa Zangeneh is a PhD student at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, where she is a recipient of the Hardiman Scholarship.] Photo: Parisa Zangeneh Monique Cormier’s recent book focuses on a problem that has plagued the International Criminal Court (ICC, Court) since its inception: its potential (in)ability to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties (NSPs)...