AMSTERDAM LAW FORUM 2024 CONFERENCE

Interdisciplinary Dialogues: Can We Navigate Conflict Resolution in the Context of International Law?

 

The Amsterdam Law Forum at Vrije Universiteit, Faculty of Law organizes an interdisciplinary conference on the role of judicial mechanisms for sustaining peace and security. The conference will be held on May 16 2024 at 15:00 CEST on the VU campus in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In the face of escalating armed conflicts, which have reached levels unprecedented since the Second World War, the global community is confronted with the stark reality that approximately 2 billion people — equivalent to a quarter of the global population — currently reside in areas affected by such conflicts. With 237,000 casualties caused by organized violence recorded by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), 2022 has been the most lethal year since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, nearly doubling numbers compared to 2021. Similarly, UNHCR highlights that the number of individuals forcibly displaced worldwide jumped from 59,5 million in 2014 to a staggering 108.4 million people by the end of 2022.

Against this background, the conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to (i) understand the opportunities and limitations of international law in preventing and resolving armed conflicts, (ii) discuss its interaction with non-legal approaches, and to (iii) examine the interplay between international law, peace, and security in addressing the challenges posed by today’s armed conflicts.

Researchers from criminology and law will be joined by representatives from the human rights organizations UpRights, Yazidi Legal Network, and the Kurdistan Center for International Law who together critically examine the capacity of international law to respond to the evolving landscape of global security, using Ukraine and Iraq as case studies.

our speakers

MODERATOR

Joris van Wijk directs the research programme Empirical and Normative Studies, directs the master programme International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is a fellow of the Center of International Criminal Justice (CICJ). Joris will be chairing the panel discussions.

OPENING REMARKS

Dylan Drenk is a PhD candidate at the Vrije University Amsterdam and focuses on the role of culture in eyewitness evidence provided at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Dylan’s presentation will offer invaluable insights into the complexities of navigating legal proceedings within diverse cultural landscapes. Drawing from his extensive experience as a Psychosocial Expert at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Dylan will highlight the role of culture in witness and victim testimony within the realm of international justice.

Yarin Eski is an Associate Professor in Public Administration at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, specializing in criminology, governance, and policing. Through his research, Yarin seeks to provide insights into the motivations, challenges, and ethical considerations faced by individuals involved in what society deems ‘controversial industries’. In his presentation, he will offer a unique perspective that delves into the ambiguities of the international arms trade. Based on his biography of the arms dealer Constantine, Yarin aims to reveal the complexities and nuances that underlie this profession as well as our judgment of it.  He also co-directs the Resilience, Security and Civil Unrest Lab (ReSCU) at the VU Amsterdam. 

PANEL UKRAINE

Sergey Vasiliev is an Associate Professor of (International) Criminal Law at the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. He is also the Director of the LLM International Criminal Law (Joint Program and International and Transnational Criminal Law tracks) and the inaugural Director of the Amsterdam Center for Criminal Justice. His current research focuses on the institutional, rule-of-law and governance aspects of international (criminal) adjudication. He has published widely in the field of international criminal justice and is part of the authors’ team for the leading textbook An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure.

Asa Solway Asa Solway is the co-founder of UpRights, a Hague-based NGO working to establish meaningful partnerships with civil society, national authorities, and international organisations to assist those most affected by international crimes, conflicts, or instability. At the panel, Asa will discuss insights from the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes in Ukraine, a resource created in partnership with the Ukrainian Supreme Court and others. Prior to founding UpRights, Asa worked as a lawyer with various international organizations and criminal tribunals, including the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Bogdana Cherniavska is an Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law at the National Academy of Management, Kyiv and in the final stages of acquiring a practicing license to work as a Lawyer in Ukraine. Bogdana is also a guest researcher at the Faculty of Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam where her focus lies on assessing the adaptability of international law amidst evolving global conflict dynamics. In her view, there is a strong need for innovative approaches that address the multifaceted challenges in the context of the war in Ukraine.

PANEL IRAQ

Jela Keyany is the Co-founder of the Yazidi Legal Network, a non-governmental organization that assists the Yazidis in achieving recognition of and accountability for international crimes committed by ISIS in 2014. Together with Jela, we will examine how international accountability efforts can be more effectively connected with domestic mechanisms through collaborative investigations, training, and advocacy.

Hossein Mojtahedi is a lecturer and PhD candidate in the Criminal Law and Criminology department at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. In his research project ‘Transitional Justice and Prevention of Radicalization in Iraq’s post-IS Landscape’, he combines legal doctrinal analysis and empirical research to explore locally driven transitional justice mechanisms. During the panel, Hossein will shed light on approaches that seek to harmonize calls for justice and enduring peace with preventive efforts to reduce the risk of future radicalization.

Hawre Ahmed is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Kurdistan Center for International Law (KCIL), a non-governmental research center that combines advocacy with legal analysis to protect fundamental human rights principles in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Working previously as a human rights lawyer in Iraq and KRI, Hawre will share his views on the opportunities and obstacles in judicial proceedings that seek accountability for international crimes committed in the region.