The 46th annual CCIL Conference was held November 2 & 3, 2017 in Ottawa. Attended by more than 300 delegates and speakers, the CCIL was very pleased with the continuity of this tradition. A meeting of more than 300 people; academics, students and practitioners working in various spheres to discuss the theme "Canada at 150: The Return of History for International Law" and the challenges to the principles and institutions of the international order.

 

Le CCDI tient à remercier tous ceux qui ont participé, soutenu et aidé à l'organisation du congrès. We would like to thank our conference co-chairs Dan Moore, Allison Saunders and Dean MacDougall for the remarkable work they accomplished in the organization of the conference. Special thanks to our generous sponsors, CIGI; PAFSO; Bennett Jones; Canadian Red Cross; ICRC; Human Rights Research and Education Centre; University of Ottawa and University of Windsor for their support and making the conference possible. 

Nous tenons également à remercier tous nos conférenciers et participants pour faire avancer les discussions et la recherche en droit international. And of course, we would like to thank you, the community of CCIL members for attending the conference and ensuring that the tradition carries on.

 

Pour un aperçu du congrès, voici ci-dessous quelques reports. Pour voir tous les rapports disponibles, veuillez visiter sur notre site Internet.

In Ottawa on November 2, 2017, at the annual conference of the Canadian Council on International Law, the Honourable Charles N. Brower delivered a keynote address. Judge Brower, who is judge ad hoc for the International Court of Justice and arbitrator for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, forcefully responded to governments' main arguments for eliminating the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause included in international investment agreements. He also analyzed the challenges arising from the creation of an investment court system as provided for in the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). 

Judge Brower began his keynote speech by underlining that criticism of ISDS clauses has increased in recent years. This criticism now has global reach, as governments, among other actors, mistrust the current mechanism. Indeed, there is a growing opposition from States towards the inclusion of an ISDS clause in investment agreements, presumably to avoid being brought before arbitration tribunals. Judge Brower suggests that this wave of protest should be deemed a "demolition derby", as it seeks to irreparably narrow the scope of investment treaties through the dismantling of the ISDS clause. Read more

Should Canada champion a North Atlantic free trade agreement? This year's recipient of the John E. Read medal was Professor Armand de Mestral, an expert in international trade law. The presenter of the award, Professor Céline Lévesque, stated that three main factors explained why Professor de Mestral's career was being recognized by the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), namely, his significant contribution to international law, his generosity as a mentor to generations of scholars, as well as his lasting involvement with the CCIL.  Read more

Modératrice - Amanda Ghahremani

Comme le thème de la conférence est ''le retour de l'histoire pour le droit international'', il est intéressant d'étudier l'évolution du droit canadien en ce qui concerne les crimes contre l'humanité. Le Canada a l'habitude de réprimer les crimes de guerre et criminels avec une approche centrée sur des mesures d'immigration, plutôt que sur des mesures pénales. L'extradition est ainsi devenue l'outil le plus populaire lorsque vient le temps de punir un criminel de guerre se trouvant en sol canadien. Cette tendance a pris de l'ampleur depuis la première extradition pour crimes de guerre en 1982. La Cour suprême de l'Ontario avait alors autorisé le renvoi du présumé criminel de guerre nazi de 73 ans, Albert Helmut Rauca, accusé de l'exécution de 11 584 personnes durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En 1985, la Commission d'enquête Deschênes sur les criminels de guerre fut créée et permit d'accuser quatre personnes entre 1987 et 1992 en vertu du Code 2 criminel. Or, ces quatre personnes furent toutes acquittées et les poursuites pénales redevinrent de plus en plus espacées. Plus...