Law School Professor Nick Grief (pictured) will reflect on his experiences of representing the Marshall Islands before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when he delivers a free public talk and discussion in Canterbury next month.

Professor Grief’s talk on Tuesday 7 March, ‘Beyond Law’s Limits? Holding Nuclear-armed States to Account in the International Court of Justice’, will examine a case he was involved in for the Marshall Islands. This tiny state in the Pacific Ocean, lodged applications in the ICJ against each of the nine nuclear-armed States, accusing them of violating international law by failing to pursue in good faith and conclude negotiations for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.

The talk is one of a number of free lectures organised by the Centre for Critical International Law (CeCIL) focussing on topical international legal issues . The first in the series, held in November, featured Dr Sophie Vigneron discussing the destruction of cultural heritage for religious and/or political purposes from the Byzantine era up to current events in the Middle East.

A further talk on ‘Turkey’s Gülenist Purge and the Defence of Human Rights’ is planned for Wednesday 31 May. Dr Darren Dinsmore will discuss the state of emergency in Turkey. Amongst questions he will consider will be: the limits States can place on human rights in times of emergency; the likely response of the European Court of Human Rights to Turkey’s use of emergency powers; and the role of human rights courts regarding systematic violations of human rights.

All the CeCIL events in this series take place in The Friends Meeting House, 6 The Friars, Canterbury at 7pm (with tea, coffee and light refreshments available from 6.30pm). They are free and open to all.

For further details on other CeCIL events, see the Kent Law School webpages.