TORONTO, August 16, 2001 -- A who’s who of legal experts will gather at a high-powered conference in Toronto in September to debate the merits of The International Criminal Court (ICC), the proposed permanent Court that will try war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and potential aggression once it is defined.
The conference, called The International Criminal Court: The Road to Rome and the Future, will open with a dinner on Saturday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Delta Chelsea Hotel and continue on Sunday, September 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Osgoode Professional Development Centre, 1 Dundas Street West, Suite 2602.
A joint effort of Osgoode Hall Law School of York University (through the York University Centre for Public Law and Public Policy and the Osgoode Professional Development Program) and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, the conference will bring together leading thinkers to discuss the ICC, and how it will work. They include:
- Madam Justice Louise Arbour of the Supreme Court of Canada and former Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda;
- Alan Baker, Legal Advisor, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- M. Cherif Bassiouni, Chair, Drafting Committee, Rome Conference on the ICC;
- Irwin Cotler, M.P., Special Advisor on the ICC, and Professor of Law, McGill University;
- Edward Greenspan, Q.C., noted criminal defence lawyer with the firm of Greenspan, Henein and White, and critic of the ICC;
- Roy Lee, Executive Secretary of the Rome Conference on the ICC, Professor of International Law, Columbia Law School, New York, and Special Senior Fellow, United Nations Institute of Training and Research;
- Sharon Williams, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, who was one of 27 judges named in June to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The arrest of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic and his upcoming trial at the Hague, as well as Israeli President Ariel Sharon’s recent cancellation of a trip to Belgium due to concerns about being indicted in that country for war crimes, have focused increased attention on the ICC.
In July 1998, delegates from 160 states and observers met in Rome and voted to establish a permanent International Criminal Court for trying individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. To date, 139 states have signed the Statute (the Rome Treaty) and 32 states, including Canada, have ratified it. The ICC will come into operation when 60 states have ratified.
Many countries have maintained that a permanent ICC is necessary to bring people accused of atrocities to justice. Some U.S. commentators, however, have been critical of the idea, arguing that it will permit politically motivated prosecutions.
The conference is open to the public and the media. Fees and registration information can be obtained by contacting the Osgoode Professional Development Program:
Telephone: 416-597-9724 or 1-888-923-3394
E-mail: pdp@osgoode.yorku.ca
Web site: http://www.law.yorku.ca/pdp/cle
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For further information, please contact:
Patrick Monahan
Director, York University Centre for Public Law and Public Policy
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-367-6976
Leo Adler
Director of National Affairs
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies
416-580-1573 or 1-866-864-9735
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