Workshop: The Interface of National Security and Humanitarian Law

On November 7, 2017, the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University will host a workshop on "The Interface of National Security and Humanitarian Law." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The Interface of National Security and Humanitarian Law in Situations of Low-Intensity Armed Conflict / High Intensity Emergency

Situations of low-intensity internal conflict pose enormous challenges to the international legal and political community, as the types and complexity of internal armed conflict have proliferated in the post-Cold War and 9/11 eras. In parallel, serious challenges to democratic states from violent political challengers continue to manifest and have resulted in extensive reliance on national security and counter terrorism regimes.

This workshop is uniquely positioned to explore the overlap between situations of armed conflict to which the LIAC is applicable and situations of emergency in which it is generally assumed that human rights norms primarily apply, with modifications of derogation and other accommodations as demanded by the exigencies of the situation. Given the unique history of Northern Ireland with vigorous debates as to the applicability of IHL during the recent conflict there is much relevant learning to contemporary situations of protracted violence (including Mexico and Colombia) where the overlap between IHL and human rights norms remains contested.