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Human Rights Law Centre
   
   
  

International Criminal Justice Unit

 

Dr Olympia Bekou
 

As part of the Human Rights Law Centre’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and the strengthening of the rule of law worldwide the Centre has a dedicated International Criminal Justice Unit, which conducts research and training on a range of international criminal justice matters. The Unit has considerable expertise in conducting research and training, knowledge transfer, capacity-building and technical support projects on national implementation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute.

The Unit has also hosted a high-profile conference , and organised seminars at the ICC Assembly of States Parties Meetings in partnership with States, the ICC and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

As much as possible, the Unit gives opportunities to students to contribute to its work through its internship and student research assistance programmes for University of Nottingham LLM students and graduates.

 

 

Projects

Key projects include:

  • ICC Legal Tools Project - National Implementation Legislation Database (NILD):  The ICJ Unit is one of eight outsourcing partners of the International Criminal Court’s Legal Tools Project. The Legal Tools, which provide the ICC, States, Civil Society and researchers with free access to more than 40,000 documents on international criminal law and justice through several databases and legal research and reference tools. The Unit is developing a dynamic, fully-searchable database of national legislation implementing the ICC Statute for which it has sole responsibility.
  • Training Courses : Since 2003, the ICJ Unit has been convening regional training courses to provide detailed technical training about the Rome Statute and national implementation, primarily for government officials responsible for ratification and implementation. Key sessions are provided by ICC staff, regional experts, and renowned academics in the field. The training courses have been designed to consider the full range of legal issues connected with the ratification, implementation and operation of the ICC. In addition to a global training course in Nottingham , training courses have been held for representatives from Sub-Saharan Africa , the Asia Pacific , the Middle East and North Africa , and the Caribbean .
  • Bilateral Assistance : The Unit offers bilateral assistance to States which are in the process of implementing the ICC Statute. The assistance includes both remote technical support and visits to selected States in order to provide expert drafting assistance together with capacity-building workshops.  

People

 

Unit Head : Dr. Olympia Bekou

Core Staff : Dr. Will Lowe; Emilie Hunter, Annika Jones 

There have also been numerous Interns and Student Research Assistants who have also contributed to the Unit’s projects.

 

Unit Head Expertise

 

Dr Olympia Bekou is Associate Professor in Law and Head of the International Criminal Justice Unit of the Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre. A qualified lawyer, she specialises in international criminal law with particular expertise in national implementing legislation for the ICC. Olympia has provided research and capacity building support for 63 States, through intensive training to more than 75 international government officials and drafting assistance to Samoa (with legislation enacted in November 2007), Fiji and Jamaica. She is responsible for the National Implementing Legislation Database (NILD) of the ICC Legal Tools Project and has researched and taught extensively worldwide.

 

 

News

ICJ Unit head Dr Olympia Bekou delivers lecture in Thailand

Description
ICJ Unit Head Dr Olympia Bekou delivers lecture in Thailand
Date:
20/04/2009
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Publications

Publications include:

Olympia Bekou, 'Rule 11bis: An examination of the process of Referrals to National Courts through ICTY jurisprudence', Fordham International Law Journal (forthcoming)

Olympia Bekou, 'A Case for Review of Article 88 ICC Statute: Strengthening a Forgotten Provision', New Criminal Law Review (forthcoming)

Olympia Bekou, 'In the Hands of the State: Towards an Effective Complementarity Regime', in C. Stahn, M. El Zeidy (eds), The International Criminal Court and Complementarity, from Theory to Practice , CUP, (forthcoming)

 

 

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email: HRLC@nottingham.ac.uk