Official in-person side event
21st Session of the Assembly of States Parties
to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Tuesday 6th December, 13:15 - 14:45pm CET
Hosted by: Republic of Vanuatu, Stop Ecocide Foundation
In association with: Parliamentarians for Global Action, No Peace Without Justice
This event will be available to watch via livestream.
You can register for this here:
The event will be in English with French, Spanish and Arabic interpretation.
The Rome Statute is intended to address the “most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, those acts which most “threaten the peace, security and wellbeing of the world”.
Mass damage and destruction of vital ecosystems through human activity now constitutes precisely such a threat on a global scale. Such damage and destruction, now increasingly referred to as “ecocide”, not only has direct and devastating consequences for communities and nations now, but also the severest of implications for the future of human civilisation as a whole, as well as for the wider community of species with whom we share our planetary home.
There is strong relevance to the ICC’s remit, therefore, of the inclusion of ecocide within the scope of the Rome Statute. This is being recognised and discussed by a growing number of States Parties, as well as by the Court itself, as acknowledged during the 20th anniversary conference on 1st July of this year.
This side event examines the rapid global progress of this discussion, the importance of the consensus legal definition of ecocide (Independent Expert Panel, June 2021) in that progress, and the potential for the ICC to play a decisive role in addressing the greatest challenge of our time.
Speakers:
Honorary Consul to Vanuatu in The Netherlands
Former ICC President
Chile Eboe-Osuji is a Distinguished International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law and a Special Advisor to the President's Office at Toronto Metropolitan University. Eboe-Osuji is leading discussions on the international human rights regime, the international humanitarian law regime, the role of international courts/tribunals, and the rule of law. Prior to joining the law school, Eboe-Osuji served as the President of the International Criminal Court, The Hague from March 2018 to March 2021. Eboe-Osuji was also concurrently serving as a senior judge in the Appeals Division of the ICC during this time.
Prior to his work with the International Criminal Court, he was the Legal Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. He also served at various times as a senior prosecutor at both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
He practiced law as a barrister before trial courts in Nigeria and Canada; and conducted appeals before the Court of Appeal for Ontario (Canada) and the Supreme Court of Canada.
University College London, Matrix Law
British and French writer and lawyer and Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.
A specialist in international law, he appears as counsel and advocate before many international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.
Sands serves on the panel of arbitrators at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
He is the author of seventeen books on international law, including Lawless World (2005) and Torture Team (2008). His book East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity (2016) has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, and has been translated into 24 languages. His latest books are The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive (2020) about Otto Wächter and The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain's Colonial Legacy (2022) about Chagos.
Chair, Stop Ecocide Foundation, Co-founder, Executive Director, Stop Ecocide International
Jojo co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support making severe harm to nature an international crime.
As key spokesperson and Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International, Jojo has overseen the remarkable growth of the global movement while coordinating legal developments, diplomatic traction and public narrative. She is also Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow.
The core work to make ecocide an international crime at the international criminal court, is supported and progressed by a large network of over 45 teams and associate groups globally. There are over 50 thousand endorsing signatories across civil society and faith groups, and a growing number of endorsing businesses and organisations.
Professor of Law, Queens University Canada
Darryl was a Hauser Scholar at New York University School of Law (LLM International Legal Studies), where he received the Jerome Lipper Award for outstanding achievement in international law. Prior to that, he was the Gold Medalist at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law, where he was a President's National Scholar.
He articled at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt in Toronto and clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice John Major.
He served as a Legal Officer at Foreign Affairs Canada from 1997-2004, providing legal advice and engaging in international negotiations concerning international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law. His work in the creation of the International Criminal Court and in the development of Canada's new war crimes legislation earned him a Minister's Citation and a Minister's Award for Foreign Policy Excellence.
He joined the International Criminal Court as an adviser to the Chief Prosecutor, from 2004 to 2006, helping to shape the first policies and strategies of the new institution. He was also involved in litigation, providing legal advice, negotiating cooperation agreements with the UN, Interpol and others, and strengthening external relations.
UN Youth Advisor
International Energy Advisory, UN Youth Advisor, COP27 UK Youth Energy Security Delegate, Director of Renewable Energy (Scotland) Limited
With a degree consisting of principal modules relating to: Geo-Politics, Renewable Technologies and Energy Transition scenarios, and a Masters with distinction in Global Energy Economics and Management, Josh is currently finalising his doctorate, researching, inter alia, the quantification and impacts of the Scottish Net Zero 2045 'just' employment and skills energy transition.
Having worked closely with a number of domestic and international UN bodies, establishing a youth-centric working paper academic journal and being appointed as one of the chief drafters for the Our Common Agenda (OCA) UN Youth Office Zero Draft (now ratified), he is turning his attention to the international energy agenda. Currently, he is developing, in partnership with colleagues at the World Energy Council (WEC), a truly inclusive, anti-tokenistic and representative framework, which will ensure that the voices of “young people” around the world have a platform and place for meaningful participation in energy related matters.
Moderator
Journalist, author and activist. President of the King Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation, and chair of Friendship Belgium.