Peace and Justice: The International Criminal Court

Posted by Christine Lee

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first ever independent, treaty-based international criminal court established to address the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.  The ICC prosecutes the perpetrators of crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. As the “court of last resort,” it is designed to complement existing national judicial systems and thus only tries those accused of the gravest crimes.

The legal foundation of the ICC is the Rome Statute, which was adopted by 120 States at a diplomatic conference in 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002. The Statute establishes the ICC’s function and jurisdiction as well as it four major organs: The Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry. Under the Statute, the ICC has been able to open investigations in Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Darfur.  110 states are currently party to the Statute.

During our visit to the ICC, we will watch a presentation on the Presidency and Chambers and will be briefed by the Prosecutor’s Office. We will also attend a hearing regarding the case of Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, two Congolese militia leaders who have allegedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The visit to the ICC will provide us with an understanding of international humanitarian law and the methods of prosecution under the Rome Statue.

Quick Update!

Hey everyone,

It’s 7:30 here in trip HQ at the hotel and we are almost ready to start a new day in Brussels. Yesterday was an incredible day highlighted for me by our early morning stroll through a picturesque Bruges, a stimulating lecture and discussion at UNU-CRIS, and finally a celebration of Noah’s birthday with waffles in Grand Place to cap it all off. Today we are off to NATO HQ, so we will be devoid of technology for the next little bit but I will try to check back later to post some of the pictures I’ve taken so far. For now, the delicious breakfast at the hotel awaits!

Hope all is well,

Jake

Landed in Paris! Everyone safe!

Hey everyone,

Just an update that we arrived in Paris safely and are now waiting to  take a TGV to Brussels. Our flight was delayed due to a transient western wind, so we barely missed our scheduled train! However, there has been a tragic accident on the rail lines in the Benelux region. We are not sure about the status of the rail lines and there have been rumours that the lines have been shut down. We will keep the blog updated as we recieve further news.

What a start to the trip! Hopefully we will be eating frites and moules later today.

Cheers,

Jake

‘Twas the night before leaving…

Posted by Jake Brockman

Hey everyone,

I just thought I would stop in with some of my last-minute thoughts before our departure tomorrow! It is hard to believe that what started as a passing comment at the end of a class in October has become this amazing trip that we are about to leave on. From the moment that we started planning, this trip has been fueled by the passion of my friends, the 09-10 Trinity One IR class.  I am honoured to be a part of this group and am really excited to be taking my first trip to Europe with all of them.  To our mentors, Profs. Kislenko and Tieku, thank you for planting this idea inside of all of us and helping us to bring it to fruition. To Prof. Allen, Dean of Arts at Trinity College and the undisputed #1 fan of this trip, thank you for being the voice of reason and helping us through every step of this journey. And most importantly, thank you to the smarter, better looking and more organized brother that I never had: Johnny Henderson has poured his heart into this trip and we are all grateful for his incredible work.

So, in less than 24 hours we are leaving! I am sure that the trip will fly by and seem like a blur.  Thanks for reading this blog and come back soon, because we are going to be posting frequently from Europe! I’ll be sure to check in everyday with an update (and maybe some pictures, too). I personally can’t wait for my first taste of fries and mussels, a Brussels speciality.

Take care, and I’ll be sure to blog soon!

Jake

Schedule Preview

Posted by Johnny Henderson and Jake Brockman

With eight days until departure, the class of Trinity One’s International Relations stream is very excited about its upcoming trip to Brussels, Bruges and The Hague!  We wanted to give everyone a general overview of the people and places we’ll be visiting in Europe, so below we’ve included a list of the institutions we will be visiting and some of the individuals with whom we will be meeting.

• Monday, February 15 (Brussels, Belgium)
  • Mission of Canada to the EU
    • Mrs. Tamara Mawhinney (Head of the Political Section)
    • Mrs. Cathy Dickson (Head of the Trade Section)

• Tuesday, February 16 (Bruges, Belgium)
  • United Nations University – Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS)
    • Dr. Philippe De Lombaerde (Associate Director, UNU-CRIS)

• Wednesday, February 17 (Brussels, Belgium)
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters
    • Ambassador Robert McRae (Canada’s Permanent Representative to NATO)
    • Ms. Isabelle Poupart (Counselor and Head of Political Section, Canadian Joint Delegation to NATO)

• Thursday, February 18 (The Hague, The Netherlands)
  • International Criminal Court
  • International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
    • Ms. Lada Soljan
    • Ms. April Carter
  • Permanent Court of Arbitration
    • Ms. Heather Clark

• Friday, February 19 (Brussels, Belgium)
  • European Parliament
    • Ms. Morag Donaldson
  • European Commission
    • Mrs. Erika Zuderell
    • Mr. Frederick Lamberty
  • European Council
    • Mr. Alexis Loeber
    • Mr. Didier Cosse

Blog Launched!

Posted by Johnny Henderson

Welcome to the web presence of the Trinity One: Brussels 2010 trip!

This blog will be used to document the exploration of international institutions and their roles in regional and global governance by the class of TRN151: “Global Governance” in the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Programme at Trinity College in the University of Toronto as they travel to Brussels, Bruges and The Hague in February 2010.  This trip was made possible by the University of Toronto and its Internationalized Course Module programme.  For more information about the trip, Trinity One and the class, please visit the About page (click here).

The class will be meeting with representatives from international organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European Council, European Parliament, European Commission, International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  The class will also be meeting with experts in the fields of international relations, regional governance and global governance at the United Nations University – Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and the European Policy Centre (EPC).