Human Rights and the Military; A duty to protect?
Wellington, New Zealand 28 - 30 August 2009
The University of Canterbury in conjunction with the Armed Forces Law Association of New Zealand (AFLANZ) and the New Zealand Centre for Public Law is very pleased to invite you to a conference entitled 'Human Rights and the Military: A duty to protect? to be held 28 – 30 August 2009 at the School of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
The conference will include papers presented by an extensive list of eminent scholars and practitioners in the area of military law and human rights. Speakers from New Zealand and Australia are joined by scholars from as far afield as England, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and South Africa to discuss the role of the military in protecting human rights.
This Conference is intended to provide a forum to discuss the place of human rights in the traditional roles of military deployment as well as non-traditional military roles of combating transnational crime and civil disorder.
With the development of both domestic and international human rights norms the role of the military in the application and enforcement of such norms is complex. Added difficulty arises from the array of operational possibilities that all modern militaries face. Internal disturbances in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, East Timor, Bougainville and Papua New Guinea for example, have all tended to redefine the role of the military both in their respective countries and within the wider South Pacific region. Further afield the role of reconstructing war ravaged communities in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans has placed military forces in the position of peacemaker as United Nations deployments seek to quell tensions through supporting people in living their daily lives. Such roles often involve the support and maintenance of secondary rights; rights that may not, under normal situations, be strictly enforceable. The extent to which the adoption of such responsibility by forces creates an ongoing expectation of support, the breach of which may result in continued unrest, is unclear.
Further aspects of the application of human rights to military forces include the enforcement of such rights in the context of military discipline. Out of a concern to meet the requirements of domestic and international human rights norms many jurisdictions have moved to reform their disciplinary procedures. In this respect the recent reforms in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa will be examined in this conference.
We hope to see you in Wellington in August 2009 to debate these issues.
Dr Chris Gallavin
Senior Lecturer in Law
Director of Postgraduate Study
Contact details:
School of Law
University of Canterbury
Christchurch
New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 364 2987 ext 8350 or +64 3 364 2602
Facsimile: +64 3 364 2757
Registration form (PDF 199KB)
Programme (PDF 233KB)
Call for papers (PDF 161KB)
Links to Wellington accommodation information:
http://www.wellingtonnz.com/accommodation
http://www.aatravel.co.nz/new-zealand/Wellington_Accommodation.html
http://www.jasons.com/New-Zealand/Wellington/accommodation
http://www.tourism.net.nz/region/wellington/accommodation/
Special weekend rates available at Holiday Inn if booked in advance http://www.holidayinnwellington.co.nz/
Conference details will be regularly updated on this website.