Trial Advocacy and the Application of International Law in the Domestic Adjudication of War Crimes in Ukraine - Session I
When
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Organized by
ODIHR is hosting a webinar series for Ukrainian legal professionals - “Trial Advocacy and the Application of International Law in the Domestic Adjudication of War Crimes in Ukraine.”
This first session of the webinar series is about “Reflections on the Role of Defence Counsel from Bosnia and Kosovo.”
In partnership with the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice’s Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, the webinar aims to enhance Ukrainian defence lawyers’ knowledge of applicable bodies of international law, as well as relevant national and international counsel’s advocacy practices within the domestic adjudication of war crimes, using the expert practices from OSCE participating States.
As the OSCE region reflects on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide and the challenge of providing accountability for society via international tribunals and domestic courts, Russia’s war against Ukraine rages. Drawing from the experience of Bosnian defence counsel, former international judges, and Kosovo defence counsel of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the webinar will provide diverse perspectives on advocacy issues confronting war crimes counsel. It aims to support Ukraine’s public defenders and defence counsel through enhancing their ability to: apply, distinguish, and recognize international law principles and topics in domestic war crimes trials, and to learn from the defence and practices applied in international courts and tribunals via the shared experiences from the bench and counsel from Bosnia and Kosovo.
ODIHR is mandated to support OSCE participating States in meeting their rule of law commitments, including the commitment to hold individuals personally accountable for war crimes and acts in violation of international humanitarian law (Stockholm, 1992). ODIHR’s efforts to support defence counsel in Ukraine is grounded in the recognition that “defence lawyers play a critical role in ensuring the right to a fair trial and in the furtherance and protection of other human rights in the criminal justice system” (Ljubljana 2005).
Attendance at this meeting is by invitation only.
Contact
Christopher D. Russell, ODIHR Rule of Law Officer, christopher.russell@odihr.pl