2nd Biennial War Crimes Conference
3 - 5 March 2011, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London
An initiative between SOLON, the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies University of London
and the Centre for Contemporary British History KCL
Conference enquiries [email][email protected] [2] or [email][email protected] [3]
Speakers include Lesley Abdela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesley_abdela [4]); Jose Pablo Baraybar (EPAF, Peru); David Fraser (Nottingham U); Cissa Wa Numbe (UNA-DCR); Silke Studzinsky (ECCC, Cambodia); Szymon Janczarek (ECHR Poland); Adrawa Lawrence Dulu (Development Peace); Kris Wetherholt (HMF); Michael Kandiah ([email protected] [5]); Shirley Randell (Kigali U, Rwanda: [email protected] [6] or [email][email protected] [3] Details, including the programme and the booking form will be available on the SOLON, IALS, and CCBH websites: http://www.perc.plymouth.ac.uk/solon/; [7] http://ials.sas.ac.uk/; [8] http://icbh.ac.uk/ [9]
Suggested themes include:
· Historical and contemporary considerations of ‘forgetting’ and memory in war crimes.
· The implications of the use of national or international courts and tribunals and the problems of jurisdiction.
· The role of the media in portraying war crimes, and the rhetoric used.
· Witness perspectives: protection, access to courts; financial support; are their voices heard?
· Legal issues, eg: the nature of evidence in war crimes trials; questions of jurisdiction; benefits and limitations of doctrinal approaches; strategies for harmonising legal definitions; should grave national or international crimes be time-limited?
· Witness perspectives: protection, access to courts; financial support; are their voices heard?
· Studies of individual cases and trials. Do prosecutions serve justice?
· Theory and war crimes, legal and philosophical perspectives, law and ethics, law and culture, law and politics.
This conference will explore themes surrounding judicial roles and responses to war crimes and also responses to such initiatives from victims/victors, interested agencies and commentators, including the UN, NATO and various local, regional and international NGOs.
Links
[1] https://www.pambazuka.org/author/contributor
[2] mailto:[email protected]
[3] mailto:[email protected]
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesley_abdela
[5] mailto:[email protected]
[6] http://www.shirleyrandell.com.au)]www.shirleyrandell.com.au)</a></p> <p>This conference is an initiative between SOLON, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Centre for Contemporary British History to explore themes surrounding judicial roles and responses to war crimes (broadly construed)– past, present and future – and also responses to such initiatives from victims/victors, interested agencies and commentators, including the UN, NATO and various local, regional and international NGOs. Does the history of such prosecutions indicate they should simply expose/reveal or must they always punish? What is the role of mediation in the interests of revelations of ‘truth’, and what impact can strategies for reconciliation have?</p> <p>As well as papers, there will be workshop sessions aimed at developing strategies to heighten awareness for practitioners and Media professionals, or engaging with them. Particularly welcome are suggestions for round tables which address the ways in which a fruitful dialogue between academics, practitioners and professionals including those working within the Media in these fields.</p> <p>Developments in areas like forensic anthropology now enable much more information about war crimes to be presented publicly, including identities of victims and perpetrators. How should such witness testimony be managed within the legal process? Should it stop short of prosecution?<br /> What of the legal tensions surrounding prosecutions for acts which, in terms of an indigenous legal system were in fact lawful – what is the ethical or moral basis for war crimes prosecutions on that basis?</p> <p>The chronological dimensions present another set of dilemmas, practical and moral. Should there be an internationally-accepted statute of limitations? Prosecutions for WW2 war crimes are still ongoing, if now rare; when does it (ever?) cease to be practical or useful, in terms of successful post-conflict reconstruction to pursue war crimes prosecutions? Twenty, thirty, fifty years?</p> <p>A particular focus will be on the International Criminal Court, with its recent extraordinarily proactive stance towards the management of war crimes prosecutions and issue of an international arrest warrant against a Head of State. Numbers of states are not signatories to the ICC, yet the Court’s actions indicate that it is taking on the role of the conscience of the world. Does the future of war crime prosecutions lie solely, or mainly, with the ICC? Is this acceptable, given the lack of universal global support for the ICC? As this is the second Biennial Conference, we are also interested in hearing reports from delegates at the first conference of developments with which they have been associated – hopeful or not – as well as considering regions not yet covered in our debates.</p> <p>Call For Papers</p> <p>Proposals are invited for papers examining a range of related issues (practical, theoretical and experience-based) of around 350 words. Abstracts/enquiries to [email protected] or [email][email protected]</a> To discuss the conference, contact [email]<a href=
[7] http://www.perc.plymouth.ac.uk/solon/;
[8] http://ials.sas.ac.uk/;
[9] http://icbh.ac.uk/
[10] https://www.pambazuka.org/taxonomy/term/3308
[11] https://www.pambazuka.org/taxonomy/term/6859
[12] https://www.pambazuka.org/taxonomy/term/3271
[13] http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category.php/courses/68141