What Are the Boundaries to Its Future Evolution?

CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

The Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will host a Conference for academics and legal practitioners, particularly those who are specialised in public international law as well as disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This event is organised as part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the founding of the OPCW.

The Theme Drawing on the expertise of the Conference panel- lists, questions of interpretation and implementation of This one-day Conference will provide an overview of the CWC and other international legal instruments will the extent to which the legal regime established by the be addressed. The discussion will take stock of recent Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) has evolved in the achievements of the OPCW, namely the destruction last 20 years and will endeavour to predict further devel- of Syrian and Libyan chemical weapons outside of the opments the Convention may undergo in the future. More territories of these two countries. precisely, the Conference will focus on the extent to which the CWC can be interpreted to adequately adapt and A critical legal analysis of the reaction of the policy-making respond to evolving socio-political realities and challenges organs of the OPCW to the adaptation of the legal regime in respect to chemical weapons. This Conference will also established by the Convention, which was required to ena- offer the opportunity to discuss whether new rules are nec- ble these missions, may provide guidance as to how cur- essary to achieve the object and purpose of the Convention rent challenges to the complete exclusion of the possibility in the future, and if so, how they should come about. of the use of chemical weapons should be tackled. The Conference will also offer the opportunity to discuss current Many questions of interpretation about the Convention and future challenges of the OPCW from a legal standpoint, have arisen over the past 20 years, and many continue to in particular with regard to the threat of use and actual use arise as the treaty marks the beginning of its third decade of chemical weapons by non-state actors. in a world that is significantly different from that of the late 1980s and early 1990s when the text of the Convention was negotiated. Providing legal advice on such questions is not an academic exercise, since the interpretation of the 16 November 2017 Convention’s provisions directly affects the immediate work OPCW Headquarters More information of the OPCW Technical Secretariat, the States Parties, the Johan de Wittlaan 32 Michelle Oliel, industry sector, the scientific community, and the numerous 2517 JR The Hague Office of the Legal Adviser stakeholders and partners of the OPCW. The Netherlands [email protected] CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

Objectives Expected Outcomes • Providing a forum for a legal discussion between aca- • Increased knowledge of comparative interpretative demics and legal practitioners about the interpretation approaches to the CWC. of the text of the CWC, bearing in mind the OPCW’s main • Improved understanding of potential interpretation challenges. issues going forward and ways for resolving them. • Identifying legal options available for overcoming treaty boundaries and/or the limits of interpretation tools.

Conference Agenda 09:00 – 09:30 Registration 12:45 – 14:30 Lunch Break

09:30 – 9:45 Welcome 14:30 – 15:30 Panel Discussion: Reflections on H.E. Mr Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW future challenges for the CWC Moderator: H.E. Maria Teresa Infante, 9:45 – 11:00 Panel Discussion: Reflections on Ambassador of Chile recent developments and the CWC Moderator: H.E. Sabine Nölke, Ambassador of Canada Panelists: Masahiko Asada Eric Myjer Panelists: Mona Khalil Donata Rugarabamu Santiago Oñate Konstantin Kosorukov Mallory Stewart Olufemi Elias • Does the CWC directly prohibit terrorists, particularly non-state actors, from developing, • The authority of the Executive Council of producing, or using chemical weapons? the OPCW and/or the United Nations Security Council to authorise the cross-border transfer • Is the full and effective implementation of Syrian chemical weapons to ensure the of the Convention, particularly Article VII, elimination of the Syrian Arab Republic’s sufficient for countering chemical terrorism chemical weapons programme. and preventing any types of possible criminal activities in relation to chemical weapons in • The subsequent decision to destroy remaining an effective way? Category 2 Libyan chemical weapons outside of Libya as the basis for a new interpretation of the 15:30 – 15:45 Coffee Break prohibition contained in Article 1, sub-paragraph 1(a) of the CWC for possible similar cases in the 15:45 – 16:30 Panel Discussion Continued future. 16:30 – 17:15 Questions from the audience • The example offered by the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission of the flexibility allowed by the Convention 17:15 – 17:30 Concluding Remarks for establishing a contingency operation when H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Ambassador of neither an Investigation about Alleged Use nor a Bangladesh, Chair of the Executive Council Challenge Inspection is triggered.

11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:00 Panel Discussion Continued

12:00 – 12:45 Questions from the audience CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

Biographies of Moderators and Panelists

H.E. Sabine Nölke

H.E. Sabine Nölke is the Ambassador of Canada to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Permanent Representative to theOPCW. She holds a BA., MA and LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario and an LLM in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as an honorary LL.D. from the University of Western Ontario (awarded in 2016). She began her diplomatic career in 1992 as junior counsel in the Economic and Trade Law Division. Since 1993 Ambassador Nölke has specialized in international law, in increasingly responsible positions, with a focus on international peace and security, human rights, terrorism, humanitarian law and international criminal law. She served abroad at the High Commission of Canada in London and with the Canadian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna. Prior to her appointment to the Netherlands, she was Director-General of the Non-Proliferation and Security Threat Reduction Bureau.

H.E. María Teresa Infante Caffi

H.E. María Teresa Infante Caffi is the Ambassador of the Republic of Chile to the Kingdom of the Netherlands since July 2014. Ambassador Infante is also the Permanent Representative of Chile to the OPCW and Professor of international law at the University of Chile. She formerly served as the Director of Frontiers and Limits in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile and co-director of the Master’s Program on International Law, Investment and Trade, offered by the University of Heidelberg and the University of Chile. Ambassador Infante is also a Member of the Institut de Droit International and previously served as the President of the Latin American Society of International Law. CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

Mona Khalil

Ms Mona Khalil served as Legal Adviser to the UN Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons (CW) in the Syrian Arab Republic (2013) and to the Joint OPCW-UN Mission for the Elimination of the Syrian CW Programme (2013-2014). She served for 22 years with the United Nations including five years at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She has published several legal works including a chapter on the “Legal Aspects of the Protection of Civilians in UN Field Operations” which appears in The Protection of Civilians in International Law, a book published by Oxford University Press in June 2016 and an opinion piece entitled “The UN’s Three Main Bodies Are Failing to Do Their Jobs” in October 2016. She lectures regularly at Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University and Georgetown University. Ms Mona Ali Khalil is currently working as Legal Advisor at Independent Diplomat (ID), a non-profit diplomatic advisory group and is affiliated with the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict. She has a BA in Government and an MA in Middle East Studies from Harvard University as well as a Masters in Foreign Service and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.

H.E. Santiago Oñate

H.E. Santiago Oñate is currently Permanent Observer of Mexico to the Council of Europe. Mexican diplomat, jurist and politician deeply involved in the OPCW and in the development of the CWC as Permanent Representative of Mexico from 2001 to 2003, as Legal Adviser from 2004 to 2012, and as Special Adviser to the Director-General in the preparation of the 3th Review Conference. His works include the 2nd edition of “OPCW: The Legal Texts” (2009); The Chemical Weapons Convention: An Overview (2009) and La Convención de Armas Químicas (2010) - Audio visual Library of International Law of the United Nations. He has published articles related to the CWC in “The CBW Conventions Bulletin”, in “Chemical Disarmament” and in the “Journal Judiciaire de La Haye”. Ambassador Oñate has also served his country as Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States (1991- 1992); Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1997-2001); Ambassador to The Netherlands (2001-2003) and as Agent before the International Court of Justice in the case Avena et autres ressortissants Mexicaines (Mexique c. Etats- Unis d'Amérique).

Mallory Stewart

Ms Mallory Stewart currently serves as a Non resident Fellow in the WMD, Non-proliferation and Security Program at the Stimson Center. Previously, Ms. Stewart served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Emerging Security Challenges and Defence Policy in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC). She has also been previously responsible for the management of the Office of Emerging Security Challenges and the Office of Chemical and Biological Weapons Affairs. Ms. Stewart joined the United States State Department in 2002 as an attorney in the Legal Adviser’s Office (L). During her time in L, Ms. Stewart represented the United States before the Iran-U.S Claims Tribunal as an attorney in the Office of Claims and Investment Disputes. She focused on international and domestic treaty law in the Office of Treaty Affairs, and she worked on numerous legal issues related to non-proliferation sanctions, conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction, missile defence, and space in the Office of Non-proliferation and Arms Control. She was the State Department lawyer for the U.S. delegation that negotiated the Ballistic Missile Agreements with Poland and Romania, and she was the lead lawyer on the 2013 U.S.-Russian Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons. In 2014, Ms. Stewart was a recipient of the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in International Security Affairs for her work on the international effort to eliminate Syrian chemical weapons.

(Listed in order of appearance) CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

Olufemi Elias

Mr Olufemi Elias is the Registrar of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunal. He formerly served as Legal Adviser at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, he was the Executive Secretary of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal. He was previously Senior Legal Officer at the OPCW, a legal adviser, and subsequently a Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, at the United Nations Compensation Commission. He is an Associate Member of the Institut de Droit International. He has taught international law at several universities and is a Visiting Professor in international law at Queen Mary University of London. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford, a Master of Law in international law from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate in international law from the University of London. He is the Secretary-General of the African Association of International Law and has written and edited several books and articles on various aspects of international law.

Masahiko Asada

Mr Masahiko Asada is Professor of International Law at the Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University. He served as Legal Adviser to the Japanese Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva 1991-1993 (CWC negotiator); the Japanese delegation to the Ad Hoc Group of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention 1995-2001; and to the Japanese delegation to the Nuclear Non-Prolif- eration Treaty’s Review Conferences and their Preparatory Committees many years since 2004. He was also a member of the UN Panel of Government Experts on Verification 2006-2007 and of the Panel of Experts for the DPRK Sanctions 2009-2010. He presently serves as a member of the OPCW’s Advisory Board on Education and Outreach and of the OPCW Confidentiality Commission. A former Senior Asso- ciate at the University of Oxford, Professor Asada currently is a member of the Executive Board of the Japanese Society of International Law, the Japan Chapter of the Asian Society of International Law and of the Japan Branch of the International Law Association (ILA). He is also a member of the ILA’s Committees on the Use of Force and on the Nu- clear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law. Professor Asada served as the President of the Japan Association of International Security and Trade 2009-2011 and of the Japan Association of Disarmament Studies 2013-2015. He has extensively published articles on arms control and disarmament issues from an international legal perspective. He gave a special lecture on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament at The Hague Academy of International Law in 2015.

Eric Myjer

Mr Eric Myer is Professor Emeritus of Conflict and Security Law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and Director of the Centre for Conflict and Security Law, external researcher at the Amsterdam Center for International Law (University of Amsterdam) and the (co)-Editor in Chief and co-founder of the Journal of Conflict & Security Law (Oxford University Press). He is a member of the Committee on the Use of Force of the International Law Association and Judge (locum) of The Hague Court of Appeal. Professor Myjer has published extensively on issues of arms control law, and especially on the CWC. He also previously served as advisor to the Netherlands Delegation to the OPCW (PrepCom (1993)-2015); Vice-Chair and a member of the Confidentiality Commission of the OPCW (1997-2003); member of the Committee on Arms Control Law of the International Law Association (1990-2004); and member of the Dutch Government Advisory Committee on Issues of Public International Law (CAVV). Mr Myjer has held additional academic positions as well as diplomatic positions with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(Listed in order of appearance) CONFERENCE The Chemical Weapons Convention in 2017: What are the boundaries to its future evolution?

Donata Rugarabamu

Ms Donata Rugarabamu, a Tanzanian lawyer, is Deputy Legal Counsel of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). She has been employed to provide legal services in a number of intergovernmental organizations, including the OPCW, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Compensation Commission. She has served as Deputy Legal Adviser for the OPCW between 2008 and 2013. In the early years of her career, she was employed at the Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law of the University of Cambridge. She gained her legal qualifications at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a Member of the Bar of England and Wales.

Konstantin A. Kosorukov

Mr Konstantin A. Kosorukov is the acting Head of Division of General Legal Issues at the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. His field of duty includes the international law aspects of combating terrorism and transnational organised crime, international legal cooperation, non-proliferation of chemical and nuclear weapons, as well as a variety of other topics. Mr Kosorukov earned a Master's Degree in public international law at the National Research University - Higher School of Economics. From 2003 to 2007 he's been engaged as an international lawyer at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from 2007 to 2014 – as a legal adviser to the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. He has published several articles in scientific journals on the topic of State responsibility.

(Listed in order of appearance)