ICC DEPUTY PROSECUTOR LECTURE AT MELBOURNE LAW SCHOOL
14 October 2008
The APCML (University node) is hosting a visit to Melbourne by ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mrs Fatou Bensouda on 14 October 2008. Mrs Bensouda will be giving a lecture at 1pm on The Tenth Anniversary of the Rome Statute and developments at the International Criminal Court.

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TOKYO WAR CRIMES TRIAL CONFERENCE
10-12 November 2008
APCML announces a forthcoming major international conference and public lecture to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Judgment in the Tokyo War Crimes Trial.

The Conference will be important as a way of enhancing the prospects of global justice, understanding a neglected aspect of Australasian history and continuing to promote friendship and reconciliation among Asian neighbours and Australia. This is not a project designed to re-examine Japan’s conduct during the war; rather the intention is to learn lessons from the Tokyo Trial with a wide-ranging discussion about the future of international law and the law of war crimes. A special feature of the Conference is a public lecture, entitled The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: Humanity’s Justice or Victors’ Justice? to be delivered by Professor Hisakazu Fujita at 6pm on Monday 10 November.

Speakers at the conference include authors of several recent books on the Tokyo Trial, a number of eminent Japanese, Korean, and Chinese scholars, and APCML Director Tim McCormack and APCML Deputy Director Ian Henderson. The conference is expected to attract around 100 participants including legal and historical scholars, political scientists, military and other historians and interested members of the public.

Dates: Monday 10, Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 November 2008
Venue: The University of Melbourne Law School, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton, Melbourne

Further information:
Cathy Hutton, APCML, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010
Tel: (03) 8344 4775 Fax: (03) 8344 0054 Email: law-apcml@unimelb.edu.au

The Conference is presented in association with Hiroshima Peace Institute, American Society of International Law’s Lieber Society, London School of Economics International Humanitarian Law Project, and is supported by Australian Red Cross and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

INTERACTION COUNCIL MEETINGS
18-27 June 2008
APCML Director Professor Tim McCormack attended the recent meetings in Hamburg and Stockholm of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government, an independent international organization which brings together former world leaders to mobilize their energy, experience and international contacts in an effort to develop and encourage change around the world. The meetings were chaired by Ingvar Carlsson, former Prime Minister of Sweden. Professor McCormack was invited to attend the meetings by former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, to provide expert advice on the theme of ‘Restoring International Law’.

HAGUE INITIATIVE ON LAW & CONFLICT (HILAC) LECTURE
17 June 2008
APCML Director Professor Tim McCormack, in his capacity as Australian Red Cross Professor of International Humanitarian Law, delivered a HILAC public lecture in The Hague on 17 June on the topic of ‘Cluster Munitions, Proportionality and the Foreseeability of Civilian Damage’. The Hague Lecture Series is a collaborative initiative of the Dutch Red Cross, the University of Amsterdam and the TMC Asser Institute in The Hague.

UNITED NATIONS PRESENTATION – NEW YORK
23 June 2008
APCML Associate Director Professor Stuart Kaye gave a presentation on maritime security on 23 June to the ninth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS), held 23-27 June. The focus of this year’s meeting was maritime security and safety and involved national delegations from over 100 countries.

More information on the proceedings is at http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/icp9/jun23.html

REFUGEE LAW CONFERENCE – PRATO, ITALY
29 May 2008
APCML academic staff member Alison Duxbury presented a paper on ‘The intersection of international criminal law and international refugee law in Article 1(F) of the Refugee Convention’ at the Best Practices for Refugee Status Determination: Principles and Standards for State Responsibility conference in Prato, Italy on 29 May 2008.

APCML STUDENT GRADUATES WITH PHD
5 April 2008
APCML student Ian Henderson graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne on 5 April. Ian’s thesis is entitled ‘Targeting During Armed Conflict: A Legal Analysis'.

Click here for a photo of Ian with his PhD supervisors Professor Tim McCormack and Dr Andrew Mitchell

MILITARY LEADERSHIP FORUM
22-28 February 2008
The APCML co-hosted with the St James Ethics Centre and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) a seminar in Jakarta in the period 26-28 February 2008. The seminar was part of an ongoing regional Military Leadership Forum that was established following the conduct of a successful pilot activity in Thailand in the period 27 February – 1 March 2007. The pilot activity had Minister of Defence approval with the ongoing forum being conducted with the support of International Policy Division.

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CENTRE FOR DEFENCE AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (CDSS)
18-20 February 2008

Over the period 18 to 20 February 2008, the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Centre (APCML) presented an International Law Module at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies (CDSS) at the Australian Defence College. This is the second year the APCML was invited to make such a contribution.

CDSS hosts the Defence and Strategic Studies course - the senior course in Australia for senior military officers (Colonel (Equivalent)) and other Government officials engaged in national security issues. It is responsible for providing Australian and overseas participants with the knowledge and skills required to operate at the strategic level in a complex and modern security environment.

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MARITIME SECURITY COOPERATION COURSE - HAWAII
4-8 February 2008

This course was held at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. This is only the second time that the APCML has conducted the MSC Workshop, and the first time that the Course has been conducted in Hawaii. The Course was jointly conducted by the APCML and the International Law Department (ILD) of the US Naval War College, with significant support also provided by the US Pacific Command. The Course was attended by operators and military legal professionals from Australia (5), Cambodia (1), Canada (1), Indonesia (1), Philippines (3), Sri Lanka (1), US (11), and Vietnam (1). Guest presenters for the Course came from Australia, Canada, UK and US.

 

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IHL COURSE AT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH PACIFIC – VANUATU
7-16 January 2008

Dr Helen Durham with course participants

APCML Acting Associate Director Dr Helen Durham taught an intensive IHL course at the Law School at the University of the South Pacific on behalf of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). As well as regular students of the University, the ICRC also sponsored a number of regional military members to attend the course from countries such as Fiji and Tonga. The students engaged in exercises, class room debates as well as presentations on topics such as the inter-face between IHL and Human Rights. Whilst academic in nature, the course also focused upon regional issues and the practical use by the military and police of IHL.

 

COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS MEETING IN DELHI
28-30 January 2008
APCML academic staff member Ms Alison Duxbury is attending a meeting of the International Advisory Commission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative on 28-30 January, in New Delhi, India.  The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative is a pan-Commonwealth human rights organisation with offices in Delhi, Accra and London.

 APCML STAFF UNIVERSITY NODE JAN-JUNE 2008
APCML Director Professor Tim McCormack is on sabbatical leave from 1 January to 30 June 2008.  During this period Professor Stuart Kaye will be Acting Director and Dr Helen Durham will be Acting Associate Director – University node.