Conference programme

This panel will explore the recent advances in legislation relating to gay marriage in Asia, as well as other areas of potential progress in the coming year.

The Climate Change crisis is fundamentally a social crisis. From extreme weather patterns - such as droughts, hurricanes and wildfires-- to rising sea levels, our World is undergoing an unprecedented climate crisis that is leading us to greater global inequality and increased level of extreme poverty. While everyone feels the effects of climate change, the World’s poorest people, including women and girls, are by far the most impacted by extreme weather events. A moral imperative, the developed world has a responsibility to support the most vulnerable to adapt to climate impacts. This panel seeks to discuss the social dimension of the climate crisis and what a Just Transition would entail.

The independence of lawyers and free exercise of the legal profession is under threat around the world. Lawyers are subject to attacks and violations of their rights in staggering numbers. This panel will examine relevant protections in place for lawyers, the gaps and failures in their enforcement, and how to make improvements moving forward. We’ll hear from lawyers who have been politically targeted, persecuted and arbitrarily detained as consequence of their legal representation or advocacy. We’ll also hear from experts who are committed and mandated to protect the independence of lawyers.

Despite constitutional safeguards and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), many states fail to enforce detention policies that meet human rights standards. One of these jurisdictions is Nigeria, where detainees are held in pre-trial detention for excessive periods in inhumane conditions, and often subjected to physical and psychological torture. During this panel, we will hear from Nigerian human rights defenders who will discuss their work to systematically and institutionally reform Nigeria’s approach to pre-trial detention. We will also hear about the UK and Australian experiences and impacts on their jurisdictions.

This panel will explore the rights of workers and the impact of business migration in various jurisdictions including Australia, Japan and Singapore.

A session on how various jurisdictions have dealt with these principles, successes and failures.

This panel will examine proposals to fill gaps in international criminal justice in cases where political deadlock leading to gaps in ICC jurisdiction have rendered justice elusive. The panel will examine, in particular, the establishment of an Exceptional Chemical Weapons Tribunal (ECWT) to prosecute state and nonstate actors for the use of chemical weapons. The work behind the ECWT came to light on the 30th November, the International Day of All victims of Chemical Warfare through exclusive coverage by Reuters, which quoted diplomats, legal experts, victim voices, and heads of international organisations.

Panelists will examine the tribunal from the perspective of the principle of legality, legitimacy, jurisdiction and victims’ rights, while also discussing how such a tribunal would be situated in the current international landscape alongside the OPCW and ICC.

This panel will discuss the introduction of modern slavery legislation (supply chain legislation) in various jurisdictions and what impact this will have on businesses.

This panel will consider the concepts of the legal community and their concerns for the ongoing use of the death penalty and related criminal justice system.

A panel discussion of Business and Human Rights and impacts for General Counsel to consider locally and globally.

This panel will consider the past criminal atrocities in Myanmar and the prospect of preventing such acts occurring again.