ANNUAL REPORT 2013—2014 1 Introduction Established in 1983, the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law is the centre for the study of international law at the University of Cambridge. In this role, it seeks to provide both a framework and forum for critical and constructive thought about the function, content and working of law in the international community, as well as to develop an appreciation of international law as an applied body of rules and principles. A number of those associated with the Centre are actively involved in the practical development and application of international law. The Centre is not involved in the formal teaching or supervision of students of the University; this is the responsibility of the Faculty of Law, of which the Centre is part. The Director, Deputy Director and some of the other Fellows of the Centre, in their role as members of the Faculty, are actively involved in teaching and research supervision. The Centre provides a regular forum for lectures and seminars and other forms of small-group teaching. The Centre’s Aims “The Lauterpacht Centre advances scholarship in international law at the highest level through research, documentation, dialogue and publication, and supports efforts to strengthen the international rule of law. The Centre is inspired by the Lauterpachtian vision of placing human beings at the centre of international legal development and offers a home for those wishing to work and collaborate towards that end in Cambridge and elsewhere.” Centre Objectives The specific objectives of the Centre are: to serve as a discussion forum for current issues by organising seminars, lectures and meetings aimed at developing an understanding of international law; to promote research and publication in international law, including the publication of core research materials; to provide, in Cambridge, an intellectual home for scholars of international law from all over the world who wish to pursue their research in an atmosphere that is stimulating and congenial to the generation and exchange of ideas; to provide education and training programmes of the highest quality to external institutions under special arrangements made with those institutions; to maintain a library of materials relating to international law. LAUTERPACHT CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW ● 5 Cranmer Road Cambridge CB3 9BL ● Tel: + 44 (0)1223 335 358 ● Email: [email protected] ● web: www.lcil.cam.ac.uk 2 2013-14 Highlights Professor Marc Weller: The Centre was delighted to note the award to Marc Weller of the Halsbury Legal Award for distinguished academic contribution to law. The panel of senior independent judges noted his contribution to his field was ‘unrivalled – truly stellar’. Cambridge Jessup team: Over the Christmas break, the Lauterpacht Centre hosted the Cambridge 2014 Jessup Team. LCIL was pleased to support the preparation of the Cambridge Jessup team. Jake Rylatt (Queens – who joined the Legal Tools for Peace-Making Project at the Centre following graduation from the LLM), Geetanjali Sharma (Lucy Cavendish), Eliza Eagling (Caius), Angela Tsui (Newnham) and Laura Hill (Corpus Christi) worked intensively on their memorials in the Old Library, supported by coaches Odette Murray (Trinity Hall) and Michael Waibel. They came first in the UK preliminary rounds, but lost in the quarter finals. LAUTERPACHT CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW ● 5 Cranmer Road Cambridge CB3 9BL ● Tel: + 44 (0)1223 335 358 ● Email: [email protected] ● web: www.lcil.cam.ac.uk 3 Centre Library The Centre’s library contains some 5,000 items, including pleadings, journals, reports and monographs. Most of the library’s materials have been donated, but the Centre maintains subscriptions to a few core international law journals. During the 2013-14 academic year, books and/or journals were received from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Prof James Crawford, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Centre Director Prof Marc Weller, several Friday Lunchtime Lecture speakers, and a number of current and former visiting and resident scholars. The Centre is grateful to them all for their kind donations. Accommodation & Facilities The Lauterpacht Centre is located in a fine Victorian family house set in its own attractive garden at No. 5 Cranmer Road. In 1996 a new wing was constructed, which now houses the Finley Library on the ground floor, with the Snyder Study Room and two offices on the floor above. In June 2002 the Centre acquired the adjoining premises at No. 7 Cranmer Road (“Bahrain House”). Following its acquisition, no. 7 was initially renovated in 2003, with subsequent alterations in 2008. In the summer of 2014, following the granting of planning permission to use the first floor of no. 7 for research use, further alterations were in progress. Following these modifications, facilities available in No. 7 will include six large research offices, a meeting room, kitchen, as well as four ensuite bedrooms and a second, large communal kitchen for the use of house residents. Development projects were made possible thanks to generous funding from our benefactors, in particular Mrs W T Finley Jr, the late Dr Earl Snyder, Trinity College, the King of Bahrain and the Government of Malaysia. The Centre remains enormously grateful to them all. LAUTERPACHT CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW ● 5 Cranmer Road Cambridge CB3 9BL ● Tel: + 44 (0)1223 335 358 ● Email: [email protected] ● web: www.lcil.cam.ac.uk 4 Research Projects Legal Tools for Peace-Making Project The Centre has a major grant to enhance the impact of law on international peace negotiations through the Legal Tools for Peace-making project. The project, led by Professor Weller as principal investigator and developed together with Dr Tiina Pajuste of the Centre, is being conducted in close collaboration with the United Nations Secretariat in New York. An initial phase of the project commenced in 2012, with seed funding from the Newton Trust and the Humanity United foundation in the US. This latest grant of GBP 860,000 from the UK Economic and Social Research Council of the UK (ESRC) brings the total volume of the project to a level in excess of GBP 1 million. The project aims to give coherence to the burgeoning practice of internationalised peace-making and offers practice-relevant guidance for international peace mediators in real time. It: Presents, for the first time, the vast practice revealed through peace agreements on an issue-by issue basis, making this practice instantly accessible to practitioners and academics; Derives from this practice realistic settlement options for use in actual peace-negotiations, and make these available to the United Nations, the African Union, the EU and other mediating agencies; Analyses this practice in relation to each issue area against the background of general international law, with a view to identifying advances of, or deviations from, universal legal standards; Establishes how the international system addresses possible deviations from universal standards in this area of law, and ask whether we are witnessing the creation of a distinct lex pacificatoria that may threaten the coherence and stability of the international legal system. The project is unique in that it answers an urgent demand from mediators and international organisations for practice-oriented guidance, while also engaging with important underlying conceptual issues. It offers a major opportunity of cross-fertilisation between the areas of academic study and actual practice at the highest level. Transitions in International Law and Practice This project investigates transitions to democracy and develops models and lessons that can be applied in support of transitional processes. The project is principally focused on the experiences of the Arab Spring. However, it also takes account of previous experiences gained in the context of the transformation of Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War, the transitions in South Africa, Cambodia, Central and Latin America, and a number of other, more recent cases from other regions. The project seeks to fulfil the following objectives: Provide a comprehensive collection of internationalized transition agreements covering the Arab Spring and a range of other, post-Cold War instances of negotiated transition; LAUTERPACHT CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW ● 5 Cranmer Road Cambridge CB3 9BL ● Tel: + 44 (0)1223 335 358 ● Email: [email protected] ● web: www.lcil.cam.ac.uk 5 Generate an analytical digest of practice, offering a range of settlement options on the principal issues that are likely to arise in international negotiations about transitions, based on previous experiences detailed in the existing transition agreements; Offer assessments of which options have in the past been successful or unsuccessful in relation to which particular circumstances to help inform and guide on-going mediations; Generate a handbook on transition negotiations, synthesizing the key approaches and lessons in relation to a number of key issues, including major transition step, sequencing of these steps, implantation support, etc. In addition to these practice-oriented objectives, the project also aims to offer a deeper, scholarly analysis of some of the underlying, conceptual issues. This includes: The concept of democracy and its different manifestations in different historical, cultural and political contexts; The concept of a ‘state of citizens,’ vs. the concepts of the dominance of a particular religious view or religious or ethnic titular group; The meaningful inclusion of women, and of civil society in transition processes; The role and efficacy of external support or intervention in seeking to encourage democratic change, balanced against the concept of local ownership; The challenges posed by spoilers in transition processes, including radical ideologies or sectarianism. The project is led by Professor Marc Weller, the Director of the Centre, and supported by Dr Tiina Pajuste. Professor Weller has served as a Senior United Nations Mediation Expert, covering the transitions of the Middle East. He drafted the Yemen peace agreement, and has been involved in a number of other transition processes in the role of Senior Legal Advisor.