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Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies

Interdisciplinary approaches towards sexual violence as international crime

Between 16 and 18 June, more than 200 experts and participants from international organisations, the international justice community (Hague courts and tribunals, academia, NGOs) and related fields (aid workers, psychologists, journalists) gathered in The Hague for an interdisciplinary colloquium on Sexual Violence, held at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Grotius Centre and the Peace Palace. The colloquium explored possibilities and challenges concerning the treatment and prosecution of sexual victimisation as international crime. Read more...

Intersessional Meeting of Crimes Against Humanity Initiative held at Grotius Centre, The Hague

On 11 and 12 June, leading experts in the area of international criminal justice convened for an Intersessional Meeting in The Hague to discuss the prospects of a multilateral convention on Crimes against Humanity. The meeting was the second expert meeting held under the auspices of the Washington University School of Law, Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute’s Crimes Against Humanity Initiative. It was held at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Leiden University, Campus Den Haag) and opened by Jozias Van Aartsen, Mayor of the City of The Hague. Read more....

Historic Conference Fighting Impunity and Promoting International Justice

On 8 June 2009 on the topic - Fighting Impunity and Promoting International Justice – a conference was held at the Peace Palace in the Hague, the Netherlands. This conference brought together over 300 government officials, judges, prosecutors, IGOs, NGOs, members of civil society and experts in the field of international criminal law, human rights and post-conflict justice. This event was historic as it gathered the Presidents of the international courts and tribunals along with the Registrars and Prosecutors. At the conference, post-conflict justice modalities were assessed in connection with their effectiveness in different situations as well as the worldwide study undertaken by this project.

ICC Registrar underlines the need for cooperation and the key role of local actors in the Uganda situation

On May 13, Silvana Arbia (ICC Registrar) spoke in her personal capacity at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies on the background and role of the Court in the Uganda situation.

In her address, Ms. Arbia presented the historical origins of the conflict, the engagement and activities of the Court relating to outreach, victims and witnesses, complementarity and cooperation, as well as developments in the situation from the Ugandan referral to the 2010 Review Conference.

Ms. Arbia stressed the need to mobilise arrest efforts to enforce the warrants of arrest issued by the Court. She further underlined the key role of local actors for the success of the International Criminal Court. The lecture was attended by more than 120 guests, including Ambassador Mirjam Blaak, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Uganda.

The discussion with the audience focused on the cooperation between the Court and Ugandan authorities, lessons learned from the Court´s outreach activities, the effectiveness of protection of victims and witnesses and the long-term strategy of the Court in the Uganda situation.

The full text of her lecture is available.

Ciardi 2009 Book Prize awarded to Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies’ Programme Director

On 8 May 2009, Dr Carsten Stahn received the 2009 Ciardi Prize for his book on the “Law and practice of International Territorial Administration: From Versailles to Iraq and Beyond” (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

The award is a scientific prize rewarding a “substantial and original study dealing with military law, the law of war or any matter connected with or related to the aforementioned”. The prize was awarded with the unanimous congratulations of the jury in Tunis at the occasion of the 18th Congress of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War. The jury report recognized that this publication is “an outstanding contribution to international security and co-operation which combines problem-oriented analysis of international law and practice, excellent writing, and convincing considerations of challenges for good governance on the way ahead.”

The book was published in May 2008 in Cambridge’s prestigious Series of Studies in International and Comparative Law. It analyses the legal and policy challenges arising in the administration of territories by international actors, covering all experiments from the Treaty of Versailles to contemporary engagements such as the conflict in Iraq.

For further information contact cstahn@campusdenhaag.nl.

Serbian team beats Austrian team in Final of Telders International Moot Court Competition

The Telders Organizing Office is pleased to announce that the winning team of the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition 2009 is Serbia from the University of Novi Sad. The other finalist was the Austrian team from Vienna University which won the Max Huber Award for the Highest Overall Score of both the Applicant and Respondent sides, and both Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn Awards for Best Oral Argumentation. The Telders judges deciding the final were H..E. A. Koroma, Judge at the ICJ, Prof. jhr. dr. F.A.M. Alting von Geusau, Honorary President of the Telders Student Society of International Law and Prof. S. Freeland from the University of Western Sydney.

Other Awards
This years EUROCONTROL Award for Best Memorial for the Applicant went to the Rumanian team. The jury awarded Laurens Miserus from Utrecht University with the Award for the Best Oralist. Runner-up for the Best Oralist Award was Aqeel Hasan Noorali from King’s College London. The Best Judge Award was awarded by the participating teams to Mr. Marc Steiner from Switzerland. The Students for Students Award was awarded by the participating teams to the Irish team from the Honorable Society of King's Inn. The Leiden Journal for International Law Award for Outstanding Team Effort went to the Belarusian team from Belarusian State University.

The Final results for the 32nd Edition of the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition 2009 have now been posted.

Marie Curie Top Summer School 2009 and Summerschool 2009 both have a few extra places available: apllication deadline extended until 30 April 2009.

Creating links and understanding between national Judges and international courts and tribunals

From March 30 to April 10 the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies held a training course for 36 foreign Judges. The course focused on several areas of substantive and procedural international criminal law.

The participants followed an intense two week program with more than 20 lectures and presentations by outstanding professors and high level practitioners from the international courts and tribunals in The Hague. The program included private meetings with ICJ President Hisashi Owada , ICTY Vice-President O-Gon Kwonicc, ICC President Sang-Hyun Song and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. During the course the group visited other Dutch cities like Amsterdam, Leiden, Haarlem, Delft and in the weekend a tour was made to Brugge and Brussels and Cologne and Bonn.

Of all participants 73% evaluated the course as very good to excellent and 82% will most likely recommend others to follow the course.

For further information in relation to this course or future training activities, please contact cstahn@campusdenhaag.nl

Grotius Centre holds successful training course for ICC Staff

From 23 March to 26 March 2009, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies held a successful training course in cooperation with Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) for staff members of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The course was specifically targeted to members of the OTP. It extended over 4 half days and covered specific topics in international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

The course was attended by 46 participants. Individual training sessions were given by Prof. Dr. Elies van Sliedregt (Modes of Liability), Prof. Dr. Albin Eser (Structure and mental elements of crimes), Prof. Dr. Claus Kress (Genocide) and Dr. Robin Geiss (War crimes).

The course was well received by attendees. Participants confirmed that they had either a “very good” or a “good” overall course experience. Most participants indicated they would “definitively” recommend this course to colleagues in the Office or take part in future courses.

For further information in relation to this course or future training activities, please contact cstahn@campusdenhaag.nl.

Training future generation of Defence Counsels

Serving as Counsel, Prosecutor or lawyer before international criminal courts and tribunals requires specific knowledge and skills. The Grotius Centre held a specialised training course from 18 to 21 February in The Hague. The training introduced international lawyers and practitioners from common law and civil law jurisdictions from all over the world to international criminal litigation. Read more

Follow-up Conference on Diversification and Fragmentation of International Criminal Law

On 21 March 2009 the Grotius Centre, in the framework of its research agenda on Fragmentation, organises a Follow-up Conference to the Introductory Conference which was held in Oct. 2008. Read more

Signature of Covenant between Faculty of Law and Campus The Hague – Mayor of The Hague receives First copy of book on International Criminal Court

On Thursday 22 January 2009, the Faculty of Law and Campus The Hague have signed a Covenant relating to the Grotius Centre for International Studies, in order to strengthen their collaboration in the field of international law. Leiden University and the Campus hereby confirm their commitment and link to The Hague as ‘City of Peace and Justice’.

The Covenant marks an important moment in the history of the Grotius Centre. It provides an organisational umbrella for the relationship between the Campus and Leiden University in the area of international law. It gives the Centre a firm place in the landscape of academic institutions in The Hague.

At this occasion, Mayor Jozias van Aartsen received the first copy of the book "The Emerging Practice of the International Criminal Court" (Martinus Nijhoff, 2009) from Carsten Stahn, the Programme Director of the Grotius Centre.

The book is the result of a special cooperation between the Grotius Centre, the University of Amsterdam and the International Criminal Court. It analyses the first jurisprudence and policies of the Court. Judge Hans-Peter Kaul introduced the book at the launch and praised as it as an important new contribution to scholarship on the Court.

Call for Papers: India and International Law: please go to the LJIL page

The Workshop Post-Conflict Justice and Local Ownership was held on Friday 30 January at the Grotius Centre, Campus The Hague (Lange Voorhout 44) from 9:00 until 17:00 hrs. You may find more information about the research project and the workshop here.

Information about the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition 2009 can be found at the Telders Moot Court website.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is proud to announce the very first Trial Advocacy Training Course in International Criminal Law, to be held in The Hague from 18 until 21 February 2009. The program and registration form can be found here.