Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Symposium: Untold Stories: Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials

The Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law, Melbourne Law School, will host a symposium on "Untold Stories: Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials," October 14-16, 2010, in Melbourne. I noted the call for papers here. Here's the idea:

As international criminal law matures, there has been a return to history. Intriguing research agendas have focused on the origins of International Criminal Law in the repression of piracy or slave-trading and on the institutional innovations found at Versailles and The Hague. Meanwhile, familiar landmarks are being revisited in order to clarify ongoing doctrinal debates (aggression at Nuremberg, conspiracy at Tokyo, and so on). Alongside all of this is increased interest in less familiar war crimes trials, both international and domestic.

The idea behind this symposium is to uncover and explore some of the less well-known – perhaps even obscure – war crimes trials. The initial call for papers generated a great deal of interest and the symposium will bring together approximately thirty scholars from around the world who are researching such trials, including recent trials in Ethiopia and the Congo, and relatively obscure trials such as the Oradour-sur-Glane trial and trials after World War II in Hong Kong and China. The keynote address on the Crime of Aggression will be presented by Professor Roger Clark.