Pacific leaders last year "acknowledged the urgency and importance of securing the region’s maritime boundaries as a key issue for the development and security of the region" (49th Pacific Islands Forum Communique).

Throughout recent decades, warfare has evolved to feature greater involvement of armed non-State actors (ANSAs). Today, the majority of armed conflicts around the world are marked by the participation of at least one ANSA. By increasing humanitarian engagement with ANSAs, Geneva Call believes the international community will ultimately improve the protection of conflict-affected populations and can be effective in enhancing respect for humanitarian norms.

This presentation will argue that the ICC’s newly-adopted crime of aggression is useless, anachronistic, and yet beautiful. The crime is useless because the jurisdictional regime adopted by the Assembly of States Parties ensures that the Court will never prosecute anyone for aggression. The crime is anachronistic because, since the Vietnam War, the international community has largely shifted its attention from preventing aggression to limiting atrocity.

This talk will consider the regulation of corporations for the human rights impacts of their activities. It will include the role of legislation, industry sectors and civil society, as well as courts, in regulation of the actions of corporations that abuse human rights. It will use the framework of developments in the area of responsible business conduct, especially of human rights due diligence, and changing corporate expectations.