Seminar on the role of legal and scientific expertise in the avoidance and settlement of water law disputes

5 December 2014

Time: 1:00am
Venue: Room 313, Law Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS

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This seminar is organised by Stephen McCaffrey, Distinguished Professor of Law, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific and former member of the International law Commission; Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Professor of International Law, Queen Mary University of London; Attila Tanzi, Professor of International Law, University of Bologna; and Christina Leb, Senior Water Resource Specialist at the World Bank with support of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Secretariat of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and Lakes, which is a global Convention. 

Draft Programme

Please note that the programme, times and participants may be subject to change. 

• Opening
  • Introduction to the workshop by Professor Attila Tanzi, Chair of the Implementation Committee under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention)
  • Welcome by Professor Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Queen Mary University London
  • Introduction to the Water Convention and its Implementation Committee by Nicholas Bonvoisin, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE
• Setting the scene
  • This general session will set the scene on (a) the relationship between international law-making, law enforcement, negotiation and litigation and (b) the relationship between the role of the legal and scientific expertise thereto.
  • Introduction on the relationship between international law-making, law enforcement, negotiation and litigation, by Professor Tanzi
  • Panel discussion
• Standard setting as a means of dispute avoidance
  • In this session, consideration will be given to the dialogue between lawyers and scientists in the actual making of and follow up to the 1992 UNECE Water Convention and the 1997 New York Convention. The UNECE Water Convention has been followed up by the Guide to Implementing the Convention (September 2013) and the Model Provisions on Transboundary Groundwaters (February 2014), developed as a result of collaboration between the Convention’s Legal Board and the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management.
  • Panel discussion
• International litigation
  • Within this session, comparative consideration will be given to the different use of experts in water law disputes and other kinds of disputes, with special reference to the International Court of Justice case on Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay and the Permanent Court of Arbitration matter on the Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration.
  • Case recently before the International Court of Justice on Whaling in the Antarctic, by Professor Fitzmaurice
  • Panel discussion
• Conclusions
  • Final observations by Professor Stephen McCaffrey

Panelists

• Professor Malgosia Fitzmaurice, chair of public international law at the Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London
• Ms Christina Leb, Senior Water Resource Specialist at the World Bank
• Ms Vanya Grigorova, Executive Director of the Executive Environment Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Water in Bulgaria
• Mr Saghit Ibatullin, Professor and a Corresponding Member of the Kazakh Academy of Agricultural Sciences
• Mr Kari Kinnunen, Director of the Lapland Regional Environmental Centre, Finland
• Professor Johan G. Lammers, Former Legal Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
• Professor Stephen McCaffrey, Distinguished Professor at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
• Ms Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine
• Mr Aliaksandr Stankevich, Head of the Republican Centre for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring in Belarus
• Professor Attila Tanzi, Professor of International Law at the University of Bologna
• Mr Ivan Zavadsky, Secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
• Mr Shaminder Puri, Secretary General of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
• Mr John Chilton, Executive Manager of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
• Mr Alistair Rieu-Clarke, Reader in International Law, University of Dundee Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science (under the auspices of UNESCO)

CPD Points

Please note that as of 1 November 2014, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has changed their approach to CPD Points. Please visit their web site for more information on these changes and how to claim CPD. 

Contact

For additional information, please contact lawevents@qmul.ac.uk.

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