25 March 2015

Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University
Summer Courses 2015 


The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is a centre of Leiden University dedicated to research, teaching, and training in public international law. The Centre has activities that take place in Leiden as well as in The Hague. In The Hague, where the centre forms part of the Campus Den Haag, the Centre is in close proximity to important international legal institutions.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies has been organizing unique and high-level summer courses for graduate students and young professionals since 2003. This Summer, the Centre if offering 7 courses.
Women, Peace and Security - Challenges and Achievements 
8 - 19 June 2015
In 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, the first in a series of six resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, which not only recognizes the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women but also stresses the crucial importance of including women in all phases of peace processes to ensure sustainable peace and security. Experience has shown that the challenges to implementing these resolutions remain significant. A great deal remains to be done in the areas of gender justice, reflecting on masculinities, peace-building, conflict transformation and the promotion of human rights. This course provides a forum for learning and exchange. It will offer insights to the Women, Peace and Security agenda and a unique opportunity to network with professionals from different regions, countries and contexts. 

International Criminal Law - From Theory to Practice 
22 June - 3 July 2015
This summer school offers a unique opportunity to gain expertise in international criminal law in the International City of Peace and Justice in just two weeks time. The course, which welcomes around 50 participants from all over the world, combines theory with practice: academics from Leiden University and experts from the international courts and tribunals lecture on topics as genocide, crimes against humanity, the crime of aggression, war crimes and modes of liability, while students develop their skills through an inter-active cross-examination session with senior trial lawyers from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and a challenging moot court exercise. 

International Children’s Rights - Frontiers of Children’s Rights 
6 - 10 July 2015
Frontiers of Children’s Rights takes a close look at contemporary children's rights issues from a legal perspective, accompanied by reflections from other academic disciplines, legal systems, local perceptions and realities. Leading academic and professional experts in the field of children's rights, international law and other relevant disciplines offer inspiring and interactive lectures, seminars and excursions in and around the historical university town of Leiden. The sessions will focus on children’s rights and juvenile justice, children’s rights and alternative care, children’s rights and global issues, children’s rights and international criminal law, children’s rights and the virtual world and monitoring children’s rights. 

Children’s Rights and Business - Children are Everyone’s Business
6 - 9 July 2015
Business has enormous power to improve children’s lives through the way in which they operate facilities, develop and market products, provide services, and exert influence on economic and social development. Conversely, business has the power to disregard or even imperil the interests of children. This course, offered in close cooperation with UNICEF, provides a comprehensive overview of the framework that has been developed to guide business’ interactions with children, including the standards and tools that are available to companies and governments. The sessions will cover The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as a framework for a focus on children, Children’s Rights and Business Principles, company management processes and practices for advancing children’s rights, the governmental responsibility to protect children’s rights in the context of business activities, the role of civil society and international organizations in promoting and protecting children’s rights in the context of business activities and child rights in the context of the travel and tourism as well as the extractive industries. Company representatives, staff of international organizations, government employees and graduate students with a demonstrated interest in this topic are invited to apply.  

Human Rights and Transitional Justice - Justice, Reparations and Development 
13 - 17 July 2015
The relationship between human rights, transitional  justice and development requires fresh attention. The field of transitional justice has evolved in the past decade to include social, economic, cultural and legal dimensions, and to cover larger objectives such as rule of law and development. While a more holistic view on transitions might be welcome, the different fields may conflict with each other.  Justice actors are not development agents, nor are development actors necessarily best agents for accountability, truth or reparations. Making development assistance contingent on rule of law reform may be counter productive, since it may create dependencies or discrepancies in relation to needs of protection or other more pressing socio-economic needs (health, education, access to resources etc.). Conversely, promoting justice through instruments of development may have significant downsides. As evidenced in the transitional justice context, awarding reparation through development programmes may leave victims with a feeling that their suffering is not sufficiently recognized. More work is required to identify how the mutual synergies between these fields may be used most effectively to the benefit of all of them. This is the central inquiry of this Summer School. It explores linkages, as well as tensions between justice processes, reparations and development.
 

Advocacy and Litigation Training Course - Advocacy and Litigation before International Courts & Tribunals 
13 - 17 July 2015
During this intensive course, run by two highly experienced international criminal defence lawyers, participants will be engaged in role play and practical exercises and improve their advocacy and litigation skills. The training will focus on the skills of case theory, opening statements, direct examination (examination-in-chief), cross-examination (previous inconsistent statements), re-examination, closing statements and legal submissions skills. The course will be concluded with a mock trial at the end of the week, in which participants can apply their acquired knowledge and skills. Apart from the theory and the practical exercises, the course includes visits to the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A special guest lecture will be given by a leading Defence Counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Professionals as well as graduate law students who wish to develop and improve their advocacy skills are invited to register.

Advanced Course on International Criminal Law Special Focus: Gender Justice
24 August - 4 September 2015
This new advanced course, offered by The Hague Academy of International Law in cooperation with the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, provides in-depth understanding, discussion and training in the theory and practice of International Criminal Law. This year’s session focuses on Gender Justice, with a particular emphasis on a critical evaluation of persistent challenges and emerging responses to sexual and gender-based violence.

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