by NIKOLAS KALLENOS & AUDREY CHONG
CECIL had it’s 2nd Annual Workshop on 16th May 2014 in Keynes organised by Dr Emily Haslam. There were four speakers on the topic of Victim Participation; Carla Fertsman (director of REDRESS), Dr Nicola Palmer (King’s College London), Dr Sara Kendall (University of Leiden), and Dr Emily Haslam (University of Kent). The workshop was chaired by both Dr Darren Dinsmore and Dr Sinead Ring and closing comments were by Senior Lecturer, Ms Sian Lewis-Anthony of Kent Law School.
The titles of the respective speakers were:
Carla Ferstman : ‘Victim Participation and Legal Representation’.
Dr Nicola Palmer: ‘Testifying to State Violence: Examining the Current Arguments around Victim and Witness Protection in Rwanda’.
Dr Sara Kendall: ‘Juridified Victimhood: The Limits of REDRESS at the ICC’.
Dr Emily Haslam: ‘Taking a Longer View: Re-captives, Liminal Legal Subjects and Mixed Commission Courts: What can Histories of Slave Trade Abolition tell us about the Construction of Victims in International Criminal Law Today?’
The speakers spoke of different aspects of Victim Participation. It was an extensive view of academic ideas on this topic. The participants of the workshop, mainly PhD students and other academics were given opportunities to express their views and engage with the speakers with regards to the academic arguments presented. This was a great chance for most of the participants who were highly interested and researching on this topic to not only pick the brains of the highly respected speakers but also gain further knowledge and insight as to the arguments and contentions posed. Senior lecturer Ms Sian Lewis-Anthony made the concluding comments. She closed the workshop by posing her concerns and her views as a Human Rights Lawyer.
We found the workshop to be highly informative. Due to the fact that we were only students of Masters level, it was a little difficult for us to understand at times due to the lack of knowledge. However, we were introduced to the topic of Victim Participation and the various challenges it faces in today’s society globally. The four hours we spent in the workshop was a valuable experience as we had the chance to witness the presentation of new ideas that the speakers have and have not published to the public. It was a very privileged experience.
We found the workshop to be extremely enlightening. Besides exposing us to new knowledge, it gave us an idea of the level of standards of a legal academics’ paper and showed us the degree of depth that is also needed if we were to pursue the route of an academic in law. This experience allowed us to broaden our minds as to the fact that there were many unique ways in approaching a research topic.
Therefore, we encourage all students of various levels not to be intimidated and to join the future CECIL workshops as all the workshops are not only unique but also there is much to gain and learn for everyone. (Ps. We had a participant that came all the way from Durham just for this workshop!!) It is an opportunity not to be missed. Not only new ideas and knowledge were being permeated throughout the room but there’s also chances to be acquainted to the speakers which is an invaluable opportunity.