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Criminology Seminar Series - 'Can Victims Gain Anything from Bringing States Before International Legal Mechanisms?' with Bill Bowring

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Venue: Online

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'Can Victims Gain Anything from Bringing States Before International Legal Mechanisms?'

Speaker: Prof Bill Bowring (Birkbeck)

With discussant Dr Monish Bhatia (Birkbeck)

Almost all states commit crimes, as understood in the domestic criminal laws of all of them. These include: murder, torture, corruption, theft, and indeed war crimes  - as criminalised in the domestic law of most states. Witness the UK’s Geneva Conventions Act 1957,  and Genocide Act 1969, repealed by the International Criminal Court Act 1991, and the Criminal Justice  Act 1985, section 134, criminalising torture. All of these import “universal jurisdiction”, to almost no effect. See the attempts by Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, of which I am a Trustee, to secure the prosecution of  the Israeli General Almog in 2005, or the Israeli minister Tzipi Livni in 2014. How are victims to obtain redress? And what might that redress be? Simply to accuse a state of “state crime” might give some performative satisfaction. But there are now international human rights mechanisms, notable the ECHR, which deals with human rights violations by states and the ICC itself, which deals with international crimes committed by individuals. On 21 September 2021 the Strasbourg Court found that the husband of my client Marina Carter had been murdered by Russia in 2006, proved beyond reasonable doubt. What did she get out of it? Why should she want to wait 14 years?

About the Criminology Seminar Series
In line with the School of Law, Birkbeck's research and teaching ethos, the Criminology Seminar Series aims to provide a platform for critical and interdisciplinary research, showcasing prominent and path-breaking research on crime, criminal justice and related themes by scholars from within and beyond Birkbeck. The series is convened by Dr Sappho Xenakis.

Attendance to the events is free but registration is required. Talks from the 2021/22 series will be available for download via the website. Find out more about the series here. The hashtag for the event is #BBKCrimSeries.

This event is open to the public and free to attend however booking is required via this page. The event will be hosted on Collaborate, a free to access website. You will be sent a link to access the event upon registration.

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