Protecting the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict: Are Legal Measures Possible? Some Reflections on the Work of the ILC

Event date

4 May 2017

Event time

12:30

Oxford week

Venue

Old Library - All Souls College

Speaker(s)

Ambassador Marie Jacobsson

Abstract

This presentation will illustrate the development of the legal framework for the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. Drawing from the speaker’s experience as Special Rapporteur, the presentation will address the multifaceted challenges associated with the consideration of the matter in the ILC, and it will assess the relevant progress of the ILC and of the UN Sixth Committee. As it will be shown, the concurrent consideration of the issue in multiple fora (the ILC, the ICRC, and the ICC) may ensure increased protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict in the future.

Bio

Ambassador Marie Jacobsson is the Principal Legal Adviser on International Law at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She was a Member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) from 2007 – 2016. Dr Jacobsson was appointed Special Rapporteur for the topic: Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts in 2013. Since then she has presented the Commission with three reports on the topic. She is also Associate Professor of International Law at Lund University, Sweden.

Dr. Jacobsson has served at the Legal Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1987 as an adviser on public international law matters. Before that, she held a position at the Swedish Defence Staff as adviser on security policy matters.

The focus of her work at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is on international peace and security matters. She has extensive experience of high-level multilateral and bilateral negotiations. In 2015, she was appointed Member of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network.

Alongside her work at the MFA, Dr Jacobsson has maintained a deep and on-going commitment to academic issues. She has published numerous articles on matters relating to international peace and security, weapons, law of the sea and the Polar Regions. Her PhD thesis focused on the Antarctic Treaty System.

The PIL Discussion Group hosts a weekly speaker event and light lunch and is a key focal point for PIL@Oxford. Topics involve contemporary and challenging issues in international law. Speakers include distinguished international law practitioners, academics, and legal advisers from around the world.

The group typically meets each Thursday during Oxford terms in The Old Library, All Souls College, with lunch commencing at 12:30. The speaker will commence at 12:45 and speak for about forty minutes, allowing about twenty five minutes for questions and discussion. The meeting should conclude before 2:00. Practitioners, academics and students from within and outside the University of Oxford are all welcome. No RSVP is necessary. Join the PIL Email List to receive information about the PIL Discussion Group meetings, as well as other PIL@Oxford news.

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Convenors of the Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group are Nikiforos Panagis and Talita de Souza Dias

The discussion group's meetings are part of the programme of the British Branch of the International Law Association and are supported by the Law Faculty and Oxford University Press.

Found within

Public International Law

Part of

Public International Law Research Group PIL Discussion Group

Protecting the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict: Are Legal Measures Possible? Some Reflections on the Work of the ILC

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