17 October 2022, 18:30-20:00
Event
For the past 21 years, the global ‘war on terror’ has had a profound impact on human rights and rule of law around the globe, and triggered a vast array of national, regional and international human rights litigation in response.
In this opening lecture of the 2022–2023 academic year, Professor Helen Duffy will highlight what she sees as key characteristics of the ‘war on terror’ as it is unfolding around the globe today, illustrated by reference to examples from her international litigation practice (and real human stories behind the cases and their quests for justice). The lecture will also reflect on the troubling trajectory of a thriving war on terror, the role and limits of strategic litigation in addressing it, and implications for the future.
Helen Duffy is a practicing international human rights lawyer and Professor of international human rights and humanitarian law at the University of Leiden. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow and a Visiting Professor at Melbourne and American universities.
She runs ‘Human Rights in Practice,’ specializing in strategic human rights litigation and advice before regional and international human rights courts and bodies on a broad range of human rights issues – including CIA rendition and torture, counter-terrorism, trafficking and equality, climate justice and accountability.
Helen Duffy is a graduate of the Universities of Glasgow (LLB Hons), University College London (LLM) and Leiden (PhD). Her ublications include The ‘War on Terror’ and the Framework of International law (Cambridge, 2nd ed. 2015), Strategic Human Rights Litigation: Understanding and Maximising Impact (Hart, 2018) and Law in Armed Conflict with Bohrer and Dill (Cambridge, 2020).
Geneva Academy
To kick-start the activities of the 'IHL in Focus' project and refine its approach, a two-day expert meeting of representative practitioners and scholars from different disciplines was convened.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform co-hosted an expert roundtable on 'Data Planning and Collection by National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow-up', in Bologna, Italy.
Adobe
This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.
Adobe
Participants in this training course, made of two modules, will examine the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights and the environment, familiarizing themselves with the respective implementation and enforcement mechanisms.
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.