TRIDENT AND INTERNATIONAL LAW THE OBLIGATIONS OF SCOTLAND AND THE UK
1 Feb 2011, at 6.00pm
Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre, Trident Ploughshares, and the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy are holding an event hosted by Bill Kidd MSP in the Scottish Parliament
On 3rd February 2009, MP Angus Robertson opened a conference where Scottish and international lawyers met with MSPs, civil servants and peace activists. The conference was jointly organised by the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, Trident Ploughshares and the Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre in order to exchange ideas and knowledge about international law and Trident from an international and Scottish perspective.
The keynote speaker, HE Judge Christopher Weeramantry, is a former vice president of the International Court of Justice(ICJ), a post he held at the time of the historic opinion given in 1996 on the legal status of nuclear weapons.
The conference organisers, Janet Fenton, Dr Rebecca Johnson and Angie Zelter, are delighted to announce that the conference papers, along with supporting and extended relevant material including the material that was not available on the day, is to be published on the 1st February 2011.
Following a launch at Word Power bookshop in the afternoon, there will be a reception at 6.00pm on that day in the Scottish Parliament, hosted by Bill Kidd MSP, who attended the Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York earlier this year.
This will be a prestigious event with presentations from several of the contributors,and input from senior legal figures. There will also be an opportunity to examine the book itself. We very much hope that you will be able to attend.
We anticipate a high level of interest in the Parliament event, and for this reason I am requesting that you send a note of interest at the earliest opportunity, preferably by email, or otherwise by post, to the address below.
Please ensure a return email or postal address in order that necessary information for guests from the Parliament can be sent to you.
Conference contributors included the lawyers Dr. John Burroughs, adjunct professor of international law at Rutgers Law School, Newark. Dr Burroughs is a specialist on treaty regimes and international law relating to nuclear and other non-conventional weapons. Aidan O’Neill, the QC involved with the Lord Advocate's Reference in 2000 who is qualified to appear as counsel in England and Wales as well as in the courts of Scotland, also addressed the conference and all papers are published.
On the day, terrible weather conditions brought London and Glasgow to a standstill and prevented the attendance of some important participants. Other speakers who were prevented from attending, but whose papers are in the book, include Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui former President of the ICJ and more recently Algerian Foreign Minister, Philippe Sands QC (Matrix Chambers), Phil Shiner (Public Interest Lawyers and Peacerights) and Professor Nick Grief (Southampton University).
Janet Fenton
Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre
St John's Princes Street Edinburgh EH2 4BJ janetscotland's4peace@yahoo.co.uk
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