SINGAPORE 30 June 2011 (Thursday) - For the first time, the prestigious Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights 2011 - designed and organized by the War Crimes Studies Center at the University of California at Berkeley and the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii - will be held at the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law.
Held in Singapore from 4-12 July, the 4 th Annual Summer Institute is a workshop co-organized by these centers in partnership with SMU, the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the International Institute for Child Rights and Development, and the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN. The workshop encompasses a week of intensive training in Singapore, followed by a four-day field trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where former Khmer Rouge leaders are currently being tried for war crimes by a United Nations-backed tribunal.
Established in 2008, the Summer Institute is designed for participants working across a broad range of fields and is best suited for those working within the Asia Pacific region, whose work has an Asia Pacific focus, or who wish to engage in comparative analysis regarding the application of IHL and human rights law.
This year, prominent human rights practitioners will conduct seminars focused on the rights of women and children during times of conflict and peace. It has been widely recognised that women and children are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations, and these seminars will consider how to investigate and deter such violations in Asia.
The seminar will focus on, among other things, human trafficking, forced labour and the deployment of children as soldiers.
Participants, all of whom hail from Asia (including ASEAN officials) will learn about the practical challenges they may face on the ground when applying human rights and humanitarian law, as well as possible solutions they can use to overcome these challenges.
Eminent faculty and speakers at the Summer Institute will include:
Ambassador Ong Keng Yong , former ASEAN Secretary General and currently Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large;
Dr Saisuree Chutikul , former Thai minister and currently Thailand's representative to the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children; and
Professor Yanghee Lee , Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Also speaking at the event is Mr Marzuki Darusman , former Attorney-General of Indonesia and current chairman of the Human Rights Resource Centre of ASEAN, and who has served as a UN expert on matters relating to Pakistan, North Korea, and, most recently, Sri Lanka.
Mr Richard Magnus , Singapore's Representative to the ASEAN Inter Governmental Commission on Human Rights, will grace the opening of the Summer Institute as its Guest-of-Honour.
Young Singaporeans will serve as rapporteurs for the event. They include SMU students Miss Chong Hui Ying, and Mr Nadim Ali Kapadia, as well as SMU graduate Miss Darshini Yoganathan. Darshini will also be a speaker on the panel on the 6th day of the Summer Institute. Miss Pavithra Prakash Nair, who studies at George Washington University and is currently doing her summer internship with the SMU School of Law's Asian Peace-building and Rule of Law programme, will also be a rapporteur.
Said Assistant Professor Mahdev Mohan , a member of the Summer Institute's Faculty and Director of SMU's Asian Peace-building and Rule of Law Programme: “SMU is excited to co-host the Summer Institute in Singapore this year. We are confident that it will help nurture a new generation of Asian scholars, lawyers and practitioners who are equipped to refine and develop human rights discourse and practice in Asia.”
About the SMU Asian Peace-building and Rule of Law programme
The Asian Peace-building and Rule of Law programme at the Singapore Management University (APRL) allows SMU students to apply the skills learned in the classroom to litigation in the court room. It gives students the chance to analyze witness evidence, conduct research, draft legal submissions and support on-going public interest litigation. Through its faculty at SMU and international advisers, APRL also engages in cutting edge research on human rights law and practice relating to business responsibility, transitional justice and the rule of law.
About the SMU School of Law
Officially approved on 5 January 2007, the School of Law proudly welcomed its first batch of 116 participants in August 2007.
SMU's undergraduate law programme aims to mold participants into excellent lawyers who will contribute significantly to society. The objective is to produce law graduates who have contextualized legal expertise and the ability to think across disciplines and geographical borders. In terms of pedagogy, SMU's seminar-style learning will be put to good effect to nurture participants who are confident, articulate and analytically agile.
The Law School will offer a 4-year full-time LLB programme, a 5-year double-degree programme which combines law with SMU's existing non-law programmes in Accountancy, Business, Economics, Information Systems and Social Sciences and more recently, a 12-month LLM (Master of Laws) Law programme.
The School of Law has also launched a full-time graduate programme called the Juris Doctor (J.D.) Programme. It follows the same academic calendar/grading scheme as the LL.B programme and can be completed within 3 years. However the programme may be accelerated in some cases for completion within 2 years.
The School of Law faculty comprises a collegial team with postgraduate degrees from renowned universities worldwide such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and London.