Human Rights and Small States: Challenges, Resilience, and Advocacy

12 & 13 November 2020

Online and at: WilmerHale

49 Park Lane London, W1K 1PS

Programme

Thursday, November 12, 2020

10:00–10:45 a.m. Keynote Fireside Chat on Poverty/Austerity and Human Rights [video]

Chair: Dr. Petra Butler, Director, Institute of Small and Micro States 

Margarette Macaulay, Commissioner, Inter-American Human Rights Commission; former Justice of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Imrana Jalal, Chair, World Bank Inspection Panel, (International Accountability Mechanism)

11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Panel 1: Austerity and Human Rights and Discussion [video]

Chair: Santiago Bejarano, Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Susie Alegre, Island Rights and Doughty Street Chambers

Malene Alleyne, Jamaican Human Rights Lawyer, Outstanding Lawyer of the Year award from the International Bar Association (IBA)

Bugalo Maripe, Associate Professor, University of Botswana

6:00–9:00 p.m. Panel 2: Migration and Discussion [video]

Chair: Daniel Costelloe, Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Dr. Jean-Pierre Gauci, Arthur Watts Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law, BIICL—Migration and Malta

François Crépeau, former UN Special Rapporteur on Rights of Migrants, Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Professor for Public International Law, McGill University—The Rights of Migrants

Ms Nisha, Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States—Culture and Migration

Alberto CostiProfessor, Victoria University of Wellington—Small States, Migration and Statehood

Friday, November 13, 2020

9:30–10:30 a.m. Keynote Panel: Small States—Big Cases

Chair: Dr. Jean-Pierre Gauci

Philippe Sands QC, Barrister and Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London—Chagos Islands: The Right to Self-Determination

Simon Mount QC, Barrister & Attorney-General of Pitcairn Islands—Pitcairn: The Search for Justice

10:30–11:30 a.m.

Q & A Keynote Panel [video]

2:00–4.00 p.m. Panel 3: Freedom of Expression With Discussion [video]

Chair: Steven Finizio, Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Caroline Muscat, Investigative Journalist, Malta (tbc)

Junkung Jobarthe, Head of the Legal Department, Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, The Gambia

Jovo Martinovic, Journalist, Montenegro

Representative from the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI)

4:00–6:00 p.m.

Kaffeehaus Debate on Freedom of Expression  [video]

6:00–8:30 p.m. Panel 4: Access to Justice With Discussion [video]

Chair: Dr. Sara Migliorini, Research Fellow in Private International Law, BIICL

Dr. Maxi Scherer, Professor, Queen Mary University of London and Special Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP—Technology 

Dr. Julinda Beqiraj, Maurice Wohl Senior Research Fellow in European Law, BIICL—SDGs and Access to Justice

Chiann Bao, Independent Arbitrator, Arbitration Chambers and BIICL Senior Honorary Fellow

Dr. Janine Ubink, Professor of Law, Governance and Development, University of Leiden—Customary Dispute Resolution and Traditional Leadership in Times of Global Capitalism - Lessons from Namibia and Beyond

The Conference Report can be viewed here.

Clara Butler