Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
16 May Symposium: Defining the Rule of Law
[Robert McCorquodale is the Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of Nottingham, and Barrister, Brick Court Chambers, London. This is the introductory post in the Defining the Rule of Law Symposium, based on this article (free access for six months).] References to the ‘rule of law’ in international law books, articles and blogs are everywhere. Yet very few of these authors set out what they mean by an international rule of law. Most of those who engage with...06 Sep Protection of Civilians Symposium: Why are UN Peacekeepers Failing to Protect Civilians?
[Mona Khalil is a Legal Advisor with Independent Diplomat (ID) and formerly a Senior Legal Officer in the UN Office of the Legal Counsel; the views expressed herein are her own and do not necessarily represent the views of either ID or the UN. This post is a part of the Protection of Civilians Symposium.] The protection of civilians (POC) mandate in UN peacekeeping was borne out of the failed UN mandates and genocidal massacres in Srebrenica and Rwanda. Since the first POC mandate was entrusted to UNAMSIL in 1999,...
11 Sep Libya and International Justice Symposium: Justice, Delayed
[Hanan Salah is the Senior Libya and Mauritania Researcher at Human Rights Watch. This is the latest post in our symposium with Justice in Conflict on Libya and International Justice.] The scars ran deep. His back was a maze of thick welts, thinner scars and parts that resembled small craters. His wrists and ankles were raw from where he’d been shackled and suspended from a ceiling for hours, and his limbs appeared limp and stretched. His eyes were expressionless. The torture destroyed me as a person, Ali[1] said. Ali, 24,...06 Sep Protection of Civilians Symposium: The Obligation to Protect Civilians
[Siobhán Wills is a Professor of Law at the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, Northern Ireland. This post is a part of the Protection of Civilians Symposium.] In 2014 the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services published an ‘evaluation of the implementation and results of Protection of Civilians mandates in United Nations peacekeeping operations’ which: noted a persistent pattern of peacekeeping operations not intervening with force when civilians are under attack…Partly as a result…civilians continue to suffer violence and displacement in many countries where United Nations missions hold protection of...
11 May Symposium on ‘Marketing Global Justice’ – A Letter on Kafka, Coca-Cola, and Vergès
...until you realise that you might not just be running out of academic-time but also life-time. What a rude awakening from the manic scramble from one deadline to another! We all have one final dead-line I guess, and I am extremely thankful that I have been granted an extension. But I am already starting to ramble. Thank you so much for your careful and thought-provoking engagements with Marketing Global Justice. Filip, thank you for agreeing to engage with my book in this symposium at short notice; I am so glad...07 Sep Protection of Civilians Symposium: Will an Improved Legal Framework Affect the Situation on the Ground?
[Ray Murphy is a Professor at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, National University of Ireland Galway. This post is a part of the Protection of Civilians Symposium.] Although there have been many pronouncements and reports on the need to protect civilians, it is debatable if this has translated into increased security on the ground. The emphasis seems to have been placed on the principle of protection rather than the actual result. This is a consequence of the gap between rhetoric and reality in many instances. The...02 Oct Book Symposium Investment Law: The Interaction Between Investment Law And The Law Of Armed Conflict In The Interpretation Of Full Protection And Security Clauses
[Dr Gleider I. Hernandez is a Lecturer at Durham Law School] I am grateful to the organisers of this symposium on the collection, edited by Dr Baetens, on the interaction of international investment law (‘IIL’) with other areas of public international law (‘PIL’). Broadly speaking, I identify as a ‘generalist’ international lawyer, one who is interested in the system as a whole and how its organs and agents grapple with emerging problems of global governance. As such, when I was approached in 2011 to consider and address the interaction between...
16 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: The Next ICC Prosecutor Must Embody Integrity in the #MeToo Era
...miss the symposium post at Justice in Conflict by Kate Gibson.] The ICC Prosecutor is first and foremost a leader, who needs to stimulate a work culture that empowers personnel in a safe and supportive environment – so that they can investigate and prosecute with excellence. Not only must the next ICC Prosecutor effectively tackle all forms of misconduct, they must also have a clean record. In December, the ICC Staff Union Council called on States Parties to give full meaning to the provisions on high moral character of elected...
16 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: The ASP Should Choose a Prosecutor from the P-3
This has been an exceptional symposium, so it’s difficult to know what to add. As many of the contributors have noted, the next Prosecutor, whoever she is, has to be a jack-of-all-trades: a skilled lawyer, so she can oversee effective investigations and prosecutions; a talented administrator, so she can herd the hundreds of cats that populate her office; and a gifted politician, so she can navigate the treacherous waters of state cooperation, the sine qua non of a successful ICC. Instead of simply reiterating those points, I thought I would...17 May Symposium: Lies, Damned Lies, and the International Rule of Law
[ Simon Chesterman is Dean and Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. This is the second post in the Defining the Rule of Law Symposium, based on this article (free access for six months). You can find the first post here.] Imprecision of meaning in international law is rarely accidental. Diplomacy is an architecture of compromise, with states routinely adopting malleable or self-serving definitions depending on their interests or aspirations. So it is with the international rule of law. A decade ago, every member state of...