Project on International Courts and Tribunals

Through periodic meetings and symposia, PICT provides a forum for debate among international practitioners, scholars, and policy-makers, including representatives of governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, to help transpose conclusions reached through the project's research findings into operational policies.

Funding of and Access to International Courts and Dispute Settlement Bodies
(London, February 1997)
The meeting was organized jointly by the Programme on International Law and Sustainable Development of the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), and the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. It was attended by over 30 international law practitioners and scholars and by high-level representatives of a dozen international courts and dispute settlement bodies. This was the first time that senior officers of so many of the existing international courts and bodies had met together. The meeting laid the foundations of PICT.

• The report

The Proliferation of International Courts and Tribunals: Piecing Together the Puzzle
(New York, October 1998)
The symposium was organized by PICT, jointly with the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics. It was attended by 40 international legal scholars and practitioners, who, during two days, debated the problems for international justice associated with the growing number and increasing use of international adjudicative, monitoring and fact-finding bodies, including problems of variation and contradiction amongst normative standards and in institutional practices, and related questions as to whether there is or should be a unified system of international law.

The papers presented at the conference were published in a special Issue of the NYU JILP, Vol. 31, No. 4 with “The Proliferation of International Tribunals: Piecing together the Puzzle (JILP Volume 31, Number 4)”.

• The agenda
• NYU JILP, Vol. 31, No. 4

The Prospects for International Adjudication: A Roundtable Discussion on Legal and Policy Issues Arising from the Emerging “Market” in International Courts and Tribunals
(London, July 2000)
This event was organized in collaboration with Herbert Smith and Matrix Chambers in conjunction with the International Law Association (ILA) 2000 conference in London. The aim of the session was to consider current issues and challenges posed by the recent increase in international courts and tribunals and their caseload. The meeting gave rise to the establishment of an ILA Study Group on International Courts and Tribunals, chaired by Philippe Sands, PICT Co-Director, and Campbell MacLachlan, Secretary of the British Branch of the ILA.

• The report

International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects
(Geneva, February 2001)
This major conference was held at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, and co-sponsored by the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva, with support from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. The conference was attended by over 150 participants (diplomats, officers of the two dozens of international organizations, policy-makers and scholars). The conference explored all aspects of the participation of international organizations in international judicial proceedings, including contentious cases, requests for advisory opinions and submission of “friends of the court” (amicus curiae) briefs. The papers presented at the conference were collected in an edited volume: Boisson de Chazournes, L./Romano, C./MacKenzie, R., International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley on Hudson, Transnational Publishers, 2002, 283 pp. (ISBN 1-57105-273-9). PICT distributed 150 free copies of the book to libraries and institutions in developing countries and economies in transition.

• The agenda
• Table of Contents
• Book order form

Women and Public International Litigation
(London, July 2001)
This roundtable discussion on the participation of women in litigation before international courts and tribunals was attended by 30 women sitting on the bench of international judicial bodies and national high courts. The meeting took place at Matrix Chambers in London; Cherie Booth Q.C. chaired.

• The background paper

Women and Public International Litigation (cont.)
(New York, September 2002)
This meeting was a follow-up of the one held in London in July 2001. On September 9, 2002 PICT held a panel discussion at NYU, again chaired by Cherie Booth Q.C., to address the current under-representation of women in international litigation both as judges and as counsel. The discussion was scheduled to coincide with the first meeting of States parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to draw attention to the importance of ensuring the equal representation of women candidates for election as judges to the International Criminal Court.

• Background papers
• The report
• Opening Remarks

Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals
(Amsterdam, January 2002).
This two-day conference was organized by PICT, the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL), and No Peace Without Justice. Internationalized courts are composed of both national and non-national judges, and are able to apply national as well as international law. In recent years several such tribunals have been established in former conflict zones to provide legal redress for serious criminal offences committed there. This is a relatively new phenomenon in international law, which PICT and its co-organizers believed to be deserving of serious analysis.

During the first day, panels of judges and legal experts from the four main internationalized tribunals (Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Cambodia) discussed their establishment, progress and problems encountered to date. The second day introduced three cross cutting themes: the establishment of internationalized tribunals alongside national courts, including issues raised by distribution of funding and composition of the bench; applicable substantive and procedural law; and the implications of the establishment of an International Criminal Court.
The conference was attended by more than 100 practitioners (judges, staff of courts, NGOs) and scholars.

• The agenda
• The report
• Nollkaemper, A./Romano, C./Kleffner, J. (eds.), Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals, (forthcoming).

The International Judge: Independence and Accountability
(Florence, June 2002)
This two-day colloquium was co-organized by PICT, the Institute of Judicial Administration of New York University, and the International Law Association. The aim was to discuss the emergence of a new major public figure, i.e., the international judge, and several still unresolved ethical, legal and political issues. To be credible, international justice must be administered by independent and accountable judges. At a time when media are closely scrutinizing the work of international judicial bodies, the issue of the transparency of international judges is paramount.

The colloquium addressed, inter alia, the:
• relation between national/situational variations in judicial roles and judicial independence;
• issue of judicial appointment, reappointment and promotion processes and independence;
• correlates of greater or lesser independence; judicial corruption;
• relationships between judicial activism, judicial impunity, judicial abuse, and judicial independence;
• justifications for judicial independence and for non-independence;
• formal and informal systems of judicial self-regulation and internal control;
question of whether human rights mechanisms are useful to judiciary protection;
• role of transnational standards, transnational judicial links, etc; and question of whether any absolute standards for judicial independence are possible globally.

The colloquium was attended by 40 participants including several international judges (from ICJ, ITLOS, ICTR, ICTY, WTO, ECJ, ECHR), practitioners and academics.

• The agenda
The conference papers have been published in: Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, Vol. 2, 2003.

Fair Representation: The ICC Elections And Women
(New York, January 2003)
This event took place in New York during two one-afternoon sessions at the eve of the first election of the judges of the International Criminal Court. It was co-organized by PICT and the Women�s Caucus for Gender Justice and the Project on International Courts and Tribunals. The panel discussion debated the need to present women as candidates for the election of the bench of the International Criminal Court. The panelists addressed the establishment of the International Criminal Court, challenges and advances made in the Rome Statute, as well as under-representation of women judges before international courts and tribunals.

• The agenda
• Opening remarks by Angela E.V. King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women

Civil Society, Internation Tribunals and Compliance Bodies, Milano (October 2003)
This conference took place at the University of Milano on October 24-25, 2003 and was organized by the Università degli Studi di Milano, Brescia e Verona, with the support of the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research (MIUR), in cooperation with PICT, and the Centro Studi sulla Giustizia, Facoltà di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Milano.

• The agenda

Gender and the Delivery of International Justice, Florence
October 2003
This one-day colloquium at the European University Institute, Florence, Oct. 27, 2003, was a follow-up to the meeting held in New York (January 2003) and was organized by the European University Institute and PICT

• The agenda


		Activities Meetings

		Through periodic meetings and symposia, PICT provides a forum for debate among international practitioners, scholars, and policy-makers, including representatives of governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, to help transpose conclusions reached through the project's research findings into operational policies. Funding of and Access to International Courts and Dispute Settlement Bodies (London, February 1997) The meeting was organized jointly by the Programme on International Law and Sustainable Development of the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), and the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. It was attended by over 30 international law practitioners and scholars and by high-level representatives of a dozen international courts and dispute settlement bodies. This was the first time that senior officers of so many of the existing international courts and bodies had met together. The meeting laid the foundations of PICT. • The report The Proliferation of International Courts and Tribunals: Piecing Together the Puzzle (New York, October 1998) The symposium was organized by PICT, jointly with the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics. It was attended by 40 international legal scholars and practitioners, who, during two days, debated the problems for international justice associated with the growing number and increasing use of international adjudicative, monitoring and fact-finding bodies, including problems of variation and contradiction amongst normative standards and in institutional practices, and related questions as to whether there is or should be a unified system of international law. The papers presented at the conference were published in a special Issue of the NYU JILP, Vol. 31, No. 4 with “The Proliferation of International Tribunals: Piecing together the Puzzle (JILP Volume 31, Number 4)”. • The agenda • NYU JILP, Vol. 31, No. 4 The Prospects for International Adjudication: A Roundtable Discussion on Legal and Policy Issues Arising from the Emerging “Market” in International Courts and Tribunals (London, July 2000) This event was organized in collaboration with Herbert Smith and Matrix Chambers in conjunction with the International Law Association (ILA) 2000 conference in London. The aim of the session was to consider current issues and challenges posed by the recent increase in international courts and tribunals and their caseload. The meeting gave rise to the establishment of an ILA Study Group on International Courts and Tribunals, chaired by Philippe Sands, PICT Co-Director, and Campbell MacLachlan, Secretary of the British Branch of the ILA. • The report International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects (Geneva, February 2001) This major conference was held at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, and co-sponsored by the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva, with support from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. The conference was attended by over 150 participants (diplomats, officers of the two dozens of international organizations, policy-makers and scholars). The conference explored all aspects of the participation of international organizations in international judicial proceedings, including contentious cases, requests for advisory opinions and submission of “friends of the court” (amicus curiae) briefs. The papers presented at the conference were collected in an edited volume: Boisson de Chazournes, L./Romano, C./MacKenzie, R., International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley on Hudson, Transnational Publishers, 2002, 283 pp. (ISBN 1-57105-273-9). PICT distributed 150 free copies of the book to libraries and institutions in developing countries and economies in transition. • The agenda • Table of Contents • Book order form Women and Public International Litigation (London, July 2001) This roundtable discussion on the participation of women in litigation before international courts and tribunals was attended by 30 women sitting on the bench of international judicial bodies and national high courts. The meeting took place at Matrix Chambers in London; Cherie Booth Q.C. chaired. • The background paper Women and Public International Litigation (cont.) (New York, September 2002) This meeting was a follow-up of the one held in London in July 2001. On September 9, 2002 PICT held a panel discussion at NYU, again chaired by Cherie Booth Q.C., to address the current under-representation of women in international litigation both as judges and as counsel. The discussion was scheduled to coincide with the first meeting of States parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to draw attention to the importance of ensuring the equal representation of women candidates for election as judges to the International Criminal Court. • Background papers • The report • Opening Remarks Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals (Amsterdam, January 2002). This two-day conference was organized by PICT, the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL), and No Peace Without Justice. Internationalized courts are composed of both national and non-national judges, and are able to apply national as well as international law. In recent years several such tribunals have been established in former conflict zones to provide legal redress for serious criminal offences committed there. This is a relatively new phenomenon in international law, which PICT and its co-organizers believed to be deserving of serious analysis. During the first day, panels of judges and legal experts from the four main internationalized tribunals (Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Cambodia) discussed their establishment, progress and problems encountered to date. The second day introduced three cross cutting themes: the establishment of internationalized tribunals alongside national courts, including issues raised by distribution of funding and composition of the bench; applicable substantive and procedural law; and the implications of the establishment of an International Criminal Court. The conference was attended by more than 100 practitioners (judges, staff of courts, NGOs) and scholars. • The agenda • The report • Nollkaemper, A./Romano, C./Kleffner, J. (eds.), Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals, (forthcoming). The International Judge: Independence and Accountability (Florence, June 2002) This two-day colloquium was co-organized by PICT, the Institute of Judicial Administration of New York University, and the International Law Association. The aim was to discuss the emergence of a new major public figure, i.e., the international judge, and several still unresolved ethical, legal and political issues. To be credible, international justice must be administered by independent and accountable judges. At a time when media are closely scrutinizing the work of international judicial bodies, the issue of the transparency of international judges is paramount. The colloquium addressed, inter alia, the: • relation between national/situational variations in judicial roles and judicial independence; • issue of judicial appointment, reappointment and promotion processes and independence; • correlates of greater or lesser independence; judicial corruption; • relationships between judicial activism, judicial impunity, judicial abuse, and judicial independence; • justifications for judicial independence and for non-independence; • formal and informal systems of judicial self-regulation and internal control; question of whether human rights mechanisms are useful to judiciary protection; • role of transnational standards, transnational judicial links, etc; and question of whether any absolute standards for judicial independence are possible globally. The colloquium was attended by 40 participants including several international judges (from ICJ, ITLOS, ICTR, ICTY, WTO, ECJ, ECHR), practitioners and academics. • The agenda The conference papers have been published in: Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, Vol. 2, 2003. Fair Representation: The ICC Elections And Women (New York, January 2003) This event took place in New York during two one-afternoon sessions at the eve of the first election of the judges of the International Criminal Court. It was co-organized by PICT and the Women�s Caucus for Gender Justice and the Project on International Courts and Tribunals. The panel discussion debated the need to present women as candidates for the election of the bench of the International Criminal Court. The panelists addressed the establishment of the International Criminal Court, challenges and advances made in the Rome Statute, as well as under-representation of women judges before international courts and tribunals. • The agenda • Opening remarks by Angela E.V. King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women Civil Society, Internation Tribunals and Compliance Bodies, Milano (October 2003) This conference took place at the University of Milano on October 24-25, 2003 and was organized by the Università degli Studi di Milano, Brescia e Verona, with the support of the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research (MIUR), in cooperation with PICT, and the Centro Studi sulla Giustizia, Facoltà di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Milano. • The agenda Gender and the Delivery of International Justice, Florence October 2003 This one-day colloquium at the European University Institute, Florence, Oct. 27, 2003, was a follow-up to the meeting held in New York (January 2003) and was organized by the European University Institute and PICT • The agenda