Conference | Seminar
Use of Chemical Weapons – from Attribution to Accountability
- Date
- Thursday 15 June 2023
- Time
- Location
-
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague - Room
- 2.02
The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, together with the German Permanent Representation to the OPCW and the German Embassy are pleased to invite you to a high-level panel discussion on practical and legal issues regarding the prosecution of violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). While the CWC does have instruments to confirm the use of chemical weapons (CW) and to identify those responsible, it does not provide for a mechanism to hold perpetrators of CW use accountable. The panel will discuss options for accountability, looking at both previous experiences and the confirmed use of CW.
Is individual prosecution at the international level possible? By an ad-hoc or hybrid tribunal? Or rather at the national level, applying the principle of universal jurisdiction? What lessons can we learn from investigations and prosecutions in comparable cases? What are the practical implications for the cooperation between the different international stakeholders and instruments, including the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), UNITAD, international courts and national jurisdictions? What are the prospects of investigating and prosecuting CW use by non-state actors, such as Daesh/ISIL?
The high-level panel will feature remarks by the following speakers:
Welcome remarks: H.E. Amb. Thomas Schieb, Permanent Representative of Germany to the OPCW
Panelists:
- H.E. Fatou Bensouda, former ICC Prosecutor and Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
- Dr. Olufemi Elias, Former Legal Adviser at the OPCW and Registrar at the IRMCT
- Mr. Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team, UNITAD
- Ms. Michelle Jarvis, Deputy Head, International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)
- Moderator: Prof. Carsten Stahn, Leiden Law School
The event is co-sponsored by the Embassies of Costa Rica, Cyprus, Japan, Mexico, Poland, as well as the Presidency of the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons and the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands.
The panel discussion will be followed by a reception.
The recording of this session can be viewed here:
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