The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 2, 2019 - Together with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Human Rights Watch, the ICC Project (ABA’s Criminal Justice Section and Center for Human Rights) cosponsored a side event at the 18th Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court. Mindful of the court-wide review process (which was authorized by States Parties later in the week), the side event, titled “A Civil Society Conversation on ICC Review: Towards a Victim-Centered Assessment of ICC Performance,” brought together a diverse group of experts and advocates to highlight the unique perspectives that victims, affected communities, and civil society organizations can contribute to an ICC review process.

On March 27, the ABA welcomed International Criminal Court President Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji to its Washington, DC offices for a discussion of matters of mutual concern in international criminal justice.  The discussion included ABA representatives from the ABA’s International Criminal Court Project, Criminal Justice Section, Center for Human Rights, and Governmental Affairs Office, as well as other civil society colleagues.

The Hague, The Netherlands, Dec. 6, 2018: In cooperation with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Criminal Court Project and Criminal Justice Section organized a side event during the 17th Session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court. Convening a group of distinguished experts with experience in US policymaking, human rights investigation and international criminal accountability advocacy, the discussion centered on challenges and opportunities for increased accountability presented by the International Criminal Court’s recent preliminary examinations and investigations. 

Experts highlighted past U.S. cooperation with the Court and emphasized the legal profession and civil society’s role in advancing accountability for atrocity crimes. They also compared accountability initiatives attempted by the international community and civil society beyond the ICC for alleged conduct in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and other countries through universal jurisdiction and UN-mandated investigations, as well as the challenges present in seeking accountability for these alleged crimes before the ICC.

Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 2018: Along with Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership, the International Criminal Court Project and Criminal Justice Section co-convened a meeting of the McCain Institute’s nonpartisan Democracy and Human Rights Working Group in Washington, D.C. The November 2018 meeting of the Working Group focused on current challenges facing the International Criminal Court and international justice, including the United States’ relationship with the Court. 

On June 5, the ABA welcomed International Criminal Court President Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi to its Washington, DC offices for a luncheon discussion of matters of mutual concern in international criminal justice.  She was joined by volunteers and staff leaders, including representatives from the Criminal Justice Section, Center for Human Rights, and the Governmental Affairs Office, among other attendees.

On August 13, 2017, the American Bar Association hosted two back-to-back panel discussions on the current state and future of international criminal law and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The first was a panel on US policy on the ICC and international criminal justice writ large. The panel included Janet Benshoof, president of the Global Justice Center and founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights, John Bellinger, former legal adviser of the Department of State, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a partner at Arnold & Porter, and Stephen Lamony, senior advocate for Africa at Amnesty International.

The second panel focused on recent developments in the ICC and the institution’s role in a shifting global political culture. The panel hosted hosted Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court – the first woman to hold this position – and Ambassador David Scheffer, who served as the first US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes issues and is currently a professor of law.

On February 10, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress hosted a very well-attended panel briefing on the potential role that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could play in achieving justice for atrocity crimes committed in Syria and Iraq.

The briefing began with opening remarks by co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass), who stressed that on-going mass atrocities in Syria and Iraq demand justice, and that the ICC and other avenues for accountability must be pursued.

From August 31st to September 1, 2015, international prosecutors and legal scholars from around the globe gathered for the 9th Annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogs in Chautauqua, New York.

This year’s conference was titled “The Wrongs We Seek” in commemoration of the anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre in Bosnia (1995) and the opening of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (1945).

Hosted by the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York, the Dialogues are one of the few annual gatherings of the leading prosecutors from the various International Criminal Tribunals, including the International Criminal Court and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

On May 12, 2015, the American Bar Association (ABA)’s International Criminal Court Project hosted an event entitled “A Step towards Justice: Current Accountability Options for Crimes Under International Law Committed in Syria” at the ABA offices in Washington, D.C. This event featured a discussion between Mark Lattimer, Director of the Ceasefire Center for Civilian Rights; Mohammad Al Abdallah, Executive Director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC); and Jennifer Trahan, Associate Clinical Professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs that was moderated by Judge Patricia Wald, the former Chief Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and a former judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

On April 14, 2015, the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights and its International Criminal Court Project hosted a closed-door meeting of experts entitled “Atrocity Accountability in Syria: What Criminal Investigations Have Uncovered”, which featured a distinguished panel.

On December 11, 2014, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the ABA’s International Criminal Court Project co-sponsored “Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: New Directions in International Criminal Justice” hosted at the CFR in New York.

On October 27, 2014, the ABA’s International Criminal Court Project and the Washington Working Group on the ICC organized a US Senate briefing with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and US Ambassador Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice.

The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law was a co-sponsor of the 8th annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogues, which took place August 24-26, 2014, in Chautauqua, New York. This year’s conference was entitled “The New World (Dis)Order: International Humanitarian Law in an Uncertain World.”

On June 2, 2014, the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights and its International Criminal Court Project hosted the Registrar of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mr. Herman von Hebel, for a discussion on practical challenges facing.

On April 10, 2014, the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights and its International Criminal Court (ICC) Project hosted a private Capitol Hill briefing with Madame Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (The Gambia), the Prosecutor of the ICC.

On April 10, 2014, the American Bar Association International Criminal Project (ABA-ICC Project), the Aspen Institute of Justice and Society Program, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), and the Royal Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On February 25, 2014, American University’s Council on Africa Studies hosted a panel debate on Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC) with a special focus on recent ICC’s cases against senior Kenyan governmental officials.

On February 25, the American Bar Association (ABA) held a discussion on the Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal at Georgetown University Law Center. The purpose of the discussion was to address the shortcomings of the Tribunal and to present some of its accomplishments.

On February 20, 2014, the University of Denver Sturm College of Law welcomed Mr. Kip Hale, director of the American Bar Association-International Criminal Court Project, to give a talk at an event hosted by the College of Law’s International Law Society.

On August 7, 2013, American Univeristy Washington College of Law hosted a panel of experts to discuss the utility, history, and impact of the United Nations War Crimes Commission (1943-48). The panelists discussed the exclusion of the public from the Commission’s archives, and the potential utility of publicizing the archives.

On June 20, 2013 Huffington Post Live hosted an interview of experts in the field of international criminal justice. The panel addressed the difficulties faced by the ICC and other international criminal justice endeavors in obtaining convictions of alleged atrocity criminals.

On June 10, 2013, the ABA International Criminal Court Project sponsored a congressional briefing on the ICC and US-ICC relations with Hon. Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador at-Large for Global Criminal Justice. The briefing was moderated by Mr. Kip Hale, Senior Counsel at the ABA Center for Human Rights and Director of the ABA-ICC Project.

The full day, international conference in Paris, France, on March 21, 2013 brought together experts in the field of corporate liability in conflict zones. After the conference, Madam Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda (The Gambia) sat down for an interview and explained that alleged ignorance is no defense when it comes to corporate liability.

On November 11 and 12, 2012, the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law held an international conference commemorating the tenth anniversary of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The conference included a celebration of the memory of Nuremberg Tribunal prosecutor Whitney R. Harris and his 100th birthday, as well as a day of remembrance to honor the victims of atrocity crimes.

On May 11, 2012, experts from across the globe gathered at Stanford University Law School for the first conference to be held in the United States commemorating the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) first ten years of operations. Over several panels, various experts discussed the progress achieved and present obstacles facing the ICC at ten years old.