{"id":143170,"date":"2015-05-20T12:57:15","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T12:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=143170"},"modified":"2019-01-03T12:31:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T17:31:35","slug":"united-nations-roundtable-on-legal-aspects-of-the-question-of-palestine-the-hague-20-and-22-may-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/united-nations-roundtable-on-legal-aspects-of-the-question-of-palestine-the-hague-20-and-22-may-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"United Nations Roundtable on Legal Aspects of the Question of Palestine, The Hague, 20 and 22 May 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Overview<\/h2><\/span>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Roundtable on Legal Aspects of the Question of Palestine. The theme of the Roundtable is\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAvailable mechanisms to ensure accountability for violations of international law\u201d<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Roundtable will review the legal aspects and mechanisms to ensure accountability for violations of international law. The Roundtable also aims at strengthening capacity-building for the State of Palestine and its personnel vis-\u00e0-vis the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.<\/span><\/p>\n

The opening session, on 20 May, from 10:00 to 10:30 will be addressed by H.E. Mr. Zahir Tanin, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and H.E. Mr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, as Representative of the State of Palestine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first part of<\/span>\u00a0Session I<\/span><\/b>\u00a0on 20 May, on the \u201c<\/span>Fourth Geneva Convention: Strengthening compliance with international humanitarian law: engaging High Contracting Parties<\/span><\/b>\u201d will run from 10:45 to 13:00. It will tackle\u00a0<\/span>inter alia<\/span><\/i>\u00a0International Humanitarian Law and opportunities and strategies for the State of Palestine to engage State Parties to the Geneva Conventions. In the afternoon the session will focus on options to address the issue of Israeli settlements in international courts; third-party responsibilities and promoting corporate responsibility in relation to settlements. Expected speakers are:\u00a0<\/span>Mr. John Dugard<\/span><\/b>, Former Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2001-2008; Chair of Arab League Fact-finding Mission on Gaza 2008-2009 and Professor Emeritus of Law, Universities of Leiden and Witwatersrand; Honorary Professor of Law, University of Pretoria and Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice and\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Ardi Imseis<\/span><\/b>, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. Session I will continue from 15:00 to 18:00 on \u201c<\/span>Israeli settlements as a war crime<\/span><\/b>\u201d with\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Richard Falk,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Former Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and\u00a0<\/span>Ms. Christine Chanet,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Former Head of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵHRC Fact-finding Mission on Israeli Settlements as speakers. The session will be\u00a0<\/span>moderated<\/span><\/b>\u00a0by\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Victor Kattan<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 21 May from 9:30 to 13:00, the participants will pay a visit to the premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC). From 15:00 to 18:00,\u00a0<\/span>Session II<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is entitled \u201c<\/span>State Parties at the ICC: Procedures, methods and strategies<\/span><\/b>\u201d and will tackle applicability of the Rome Statute to the situation in the State of Palestine and advantages and disadvantages of referring a situation to the ICC. Expected speakers for this session are\u00a0<\/span>Ms.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>Paolina Massidda<\/span><\/b>, Principal Counsel, Office of Public Counsel for Victims at the International Criminal Court, and\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Kai Ambos<\/span><\/b>, Chair for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law and International Criminal Law, Department for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Georg-August University, G\u00f6ttingen; Judge, Appeals Court, Braunschweig. The discussion will be moderated by\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Michael Bothe<\/span><\/b>, Professor Emeritus of Public Law, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Roundtable will resume on 22 May at 10:00 with\u00a0<\/span>Session III<\/span><\/b>\u00a0entitled\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe State of Palestine and the ICJ – building on the advisory opinion on the separation wall\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>will feature<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>as speakers<\/span>\u00a0Mr. Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh<\/span><\/b>, Former Prime Minister of Jordan, Former judge, International Court of Justice, and\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Iain Scobbie,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Professor of Public International Law<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>School of Law, University of Manchester. They will discuss the impact of the 2004 ICJ advisory opinion and ways for the State of Palestine to further engage the international community on the matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Session III will resume at 14:30 focusing on the next possible avenues available for the State of Palestine at the ICC and ICJ. Tackling these issues will be\u00a0<\/span>Ms. Susan Akram<\/span><\/b>, Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney, International Human Rights Program at Boston University School of Law, and\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Michael Bothe,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Professor Emeritus of Public Law at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. The moderator in Session III will be\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Peter Bekker,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Professor and Chair in International Law<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>at the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>University of Dundee.\u00a0<\/span>Mr. Fausto Pocar<\/span><\/b>, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Former Dean and Vice-Rector at the University of Milan and currently an Appeals Judge (since 2000) of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and formerly Rapporteur and Chairman in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Human Rights Committee, will also participate in the proceedings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The closing session, on 22 May, from 17:30 to 18:00, will be addressed by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Representative of the State of Palestine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All sessions of the Seminar will be closed to the public and the media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Resources<\/h3><\/span>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>