Upcoming event: Panel on Establishment of a Special Anti-Piracy Tribunal: Prospects and Reality

As part of the ABA Section of International Law, 2012 Spring Meeting in New York, 17-21 April 2012, there are two panel discussions that may interest readers. The first will discuss the legal issues surrounding the prosecution of piracy. For further background on the Kenyan High Court decision see here. The second panel will take a look back at one of the precursors to modern international criminal law, the Nuremberg trials.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Two hundred years ago, piracy was recognized as the first “international” crime. Recently, piracy has re-emerged as a major problem for international commerce. In the last two years, Somali pirate attacks off the Kenyan and Somali coasts have caused over $25 billion in losses. Although the UN Security Council authorized the international community to capture Somali pirates and turn them over to Kenya for prosecution, Kenyan courts have struggled with the novel legal issues presented before them. A Kenyan High Court Judge recently ruled the Kenyan Piracy Court cannot obtain jurisdiction over captured pirates because Kenyan law lacks the requisite statute granting such jurisdiction. Prosecuting pirates involves knowledge of international treaties, criminal law, maritime law, and unusual evidentiary gathering rules, which is challenging and even dangerous. This panel will provide a basic understanding of these complex legal issues and how the many parties involved are trying to resolve this continuing international dilemma.

Moderator: Anthony Colleluori, Anthony Colleluori & Associates, PLLC, Melville, New York

Speakers: Sandra Hodgkinson, National Defense University, Alexandria, Virginia

Rosemelle Mutoka, Kenya Piracy Court  Chief Judge, Kenya

Michael Scharf , Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

19 April 2012,  4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

A conversation with Ben Ferencz, the sole surviving American who served as a prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials of Nazi war criminals. Ferencz was Chief Prosecutor for the United States in The Einsatzgruppen Case, which the Associated Press called “the biggest murder trial in history.” Twenty-two defendants were charged with – and convicted of – murdering over a million people. In addition to his wartime and Nuremburg experiences, Ferencz will discuss Nuremburg’s implications for the rule of law and the international criminal court.

Program Chairs & Moderators: Michael H. Byowitz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rose & Katz, New York, New York

Don Ferencz, The Planethood Foundation, New York, New York

Speaker: Ben Ferencz , New Rochelle, New York