World-renowned experts in international law visit Bangor

On 20 March 2013, the Bangor Centre for International Law at Bangor Law School, was delighted to present a high level discussion on ‘An International Rule Professor William A. Schabasof Law’. The Centre was very honoured to have been able to host two of the world’s most highly regarded international lawyers, Professor Malcolm Evans OBE, and Professor William A Schabas OC, MRE. Both are advisors to the Bangor Centre for International Law; Professor Evans is also an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University. They were joined by the Right Rev. Andy John, Bishop of Bangor, who in addition to his leadership role in the Church in Wales, is an outstanding non-practising lawyer trained at Cardiff Law School.

The discussions ranged across challenging issues such as the meaning of an ‘international rule of law’, the function of international law, fairness and legitimacy in the international system, ‘the rule of law industry’, just war and pacificism, accountability of religious leaders and persecution of religious groups. Professor Suzannah Linton, Chair of International Law and Director of the Bangor Centre for International Law, organized and chaired the event. She was delighted with the proceedings, and the wealth of insight that emerged. “With such a distinguished line-up, I did not want the usual ‘present a paper’ format, but a genuine sharing of views and interactive dialogue amongst the three, and also with the audience. So, I gave our distinguished guests some questions to reflect on, and we worked our way through them, with audience participation. I am really pleased at how this format was able to draw out some of the immense wisdom, technical expertise, and deep humanity from our exceptionally distinguished guests”. According to Professor Linton, “we will definitely be organizing more such The panel in the midst of their discussion on 'An International Rule of Law'. L-R: Prof. Schabas, Prof. Malcolm Evans, Prof. Suzannah Linton and the Right Rev. Andy Johnevents in future; the topic of an ‘international rule of law’ itself is a focus of our Centre for International Law”.

Students were greatly inspired by the speakers and the event. Ali Nezam, an undergraduate law student, said that “it was most enjoyable listening to a panel with such a vast array of knowledge in the world of academia.” Benjamin Owen, an International Law Masters student, said that “It was brilliant to see such a distinguished panel at Bangor University and to have the opportunity to hear their thoughts on a range of subjects…. sadly, the event was only 2 hours long!”. Wedad El Maalul, a PhD student, said that “The idea of the discussion and the questions that have been triggered were very interesting and important, especially for many of us who are examining rule of law in our research. It was really a great opportunity to hear the ideas of and interact with such very distinguished personalities in international law.”

Professor Evans also taught gave two master classes to undergraduate International Law students – on the prohibition of torture in International Law, and the international system for the protection of human rights. Right Rev. Andy John, Bishop of Bangor

Publication date: 27 March 2013