On November 21st and 22nd, 2023, UpRights’ Co-Directors Valerie Gabard and Asa Solway, along with Senior Legal Advisor David Kinnecome, participated in a series of events organized to facilitate knowledge exchange among legal experts and enhance the capacity of Ukrainian judges in the realm of international criminal law.

On November 21st, Valérie and Asa engaged in a thought-provoking session promoted by the T.M.C Asser Instituut focusing on judgement drafting in international crimes cases. The discussion began with their relevant experience at international criminal tribunals and then moved to a specific discussion of Article 438 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code and the issues related to the applicability of international criminal law in light of its blanket provision concerning war crimes.

The presentation integrated insights from the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes in Ukraine, a resource crafted by Ukrainian judges, UpRights, and Global Rights Compliance in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Supreme Court, the National School of Judges of Ukraine and with the support of USAID and the Matra Project to aid judges in the interpretation and application of relevant domestic offenses.

On November 22nd, in a separate workshop, David Kinnecome, UpRights’ Senior Legal Advisor, joined Valérie and Asa for a workshop on comparative law organized by the USAID Justice for All Activity as part of the Inter-University Programme on International Criminal Law and Procedure for Ukrainian Law Schools (IUP-UA).

The workshop provided a platform for Ukrainian law faculties to engage in in-depth discussions on issues related to international criminal law as applied in Ukraine. The trio’s presentation covered a spectrum of topics, including the role of international law in adjudicating war crimes cases under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and they also explored aspects of in-absentia trials and the admission and assessment of digital evidence, drawing where relevant from the practice of international tribunals.

UpRights is pleased to support the organisations’ commitment to promoting knowledge-sharing in international justice. Read more about these visits here, about the IUP-UA Project here and read the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes.

UpRights is pleased to announce its participation to the upcoming Peace&Justice Café event organised by The Hague Humanity Hub in collaboration with The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law.

The event, as part of Hague Justice Week, will focus on the concept of “People-Centred Justice” which is an idea that emphasizes the necessity, for legal practices and systems, to become evidence-based, outcome-oriented, and accessible to the people they serve. The Peace&Justice Café is a fundamental networking event for human rights professional that fosters and strengthens the collaboration towards a more just world, providing us with the opportunity to collectively come up with concrete solutions to tackle today’s complex and urgent problems. Launched by the Hague Humanity Hub in collaboration with the Municipality of The Hague and The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law, the event brings together peacebuilders, justice innovators, researchers, humanitarians, impact entrepreneurs, policymakers, and other changemakers from The Hague and beyond to foster an environment of profitable exchange and mutual enriching.

The Peace&Justice Café is based on the “roundabout” sessions: a series of small-scale, interactive and informative discussions aimed at providing an environment for conversation and information sharing among the participants.

Through their contribution, UpRights co-directors and founders Valérie Gabard and Asa Solway will underline the importance of employing an inclusive and people-centred approach to using international law to promote human rights and ensure accountability for serious human rights violations. They will consider the opportunities and challenges in employing international law to empower local and national actors to promote human rights by exploring practical examples of its implementation in the pursuit of justice. Alongside the active engagement of the participants, the session will provide the opportunity to discuss innovative legal pathways, strategies to build partnerships and lessons learned from employing people-centred justice in the context of international law.

Meet us at the Peace&Justice Café on June 8 by registering here and join the conversation!

From 11 to 15 October, UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, in coordination with an on-site facilitator and investigator, led two trainings designed to build capacity to investigate serious human rights violations and abuses during crises to support victims in their quest for justice in Niamey, Niger.

The first training involved 25 participants, composed of technical staff at the central and regional level and certain Commissioners from the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (“CNDH”). It was a targeted and practical three-day training. The training aimed to strengthen existing investigation practices of the CNDH and to equip participants with best practices to conduct secure, ethical and victim-centered human rights investigations with a focus on victim and witness protection and investigation planning. This training was followed by a two-day training on the same topic for 20 representatives of civil society organizations located in conflict-affected areas of Niger and who cooperate with the CNDH.

These capacity-building initiatives are part of the “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger” project “Adalci Project” implemented by a consortium of organisations including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, Search for Common Ground and PACT. This four-year program is funded by USAID.

On Friday, September 30, from 9 to 18:30, the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna will host the Seminar “Migrants’ rights and international crimes. New perspectives and challenges for international and domestic jurisdiction” (Sala Armi, Palazzo Malvezzi, via Zamboni 22, Bologna and online).

The seminar is organized by StraLi for strategic litigation, UpRights and the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna. Together with journalists, researchers, civil society’s representatives, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges, we will discuss pivotal issues at the intersection of migration and criminal law, such as the qualification of abuses against migrants as international crimes and the impact of European migration policies on human rights. It will comprise of three panels (panel 1 and 2 will be held in English, panel 3 in Italian) which will deal respectively with: migration policies from a human rights perspective; migrations and international criminal law; migrations and Italian criminal law.

Alessandro Pizzuti will be among the speakers of panel 1 to discuss human rights’ application at sea. Alice Giannini and Tomas Manguel will be among speakers of panel 2 and will discuss StraLi’s, UpRights’, and Adala for All’s Article 15 Communication on War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Libya.

The full program, including the list of the topics discussed and the panelists, are available here.

No registration needed.

Save the date!