Professor Lewis to attend Symposium at The Hague

Professor Michael W. Lewis has been invited to attend a symposium at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) - The Hague in The Netherlands from January 10-11.  The symposium is hosted by the T.M.C. Asser Institute, in cooperation with the International Humanitarian and Criminal Law Platform, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Municipality of The Hague.  The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) – The Hague is an independent knowledge centre that focuses on information creation, collation, and dissemination pertaining to the preventative and international legal aspects of counter-terrorism.

The conference name, “The Boundaries of the Battlefield: A Critical Look at the Legal Paradigms and Rules of Countering Terrorism,” was taken from the title of Professor Lewis’ 2012 article, which first appeared in the Texas International Law Journal.

The symposium aims to, “discuss the details of various approaches states take against non-state actors with the goal of countering terrorism.  Specifically, the conference will address issues related to the uses of force and how these may affect and define the geographic and temporal scope and limitations of the laws of armed conflict in relation to counterterrorism.”  Professor Lewis will participate on two panels during the conference: “Wherever War?: Geographic Limitations of Armed Conflict,” and “Law Enforcement Approach in Counterterrorism.”   

The list of invitees includes US Attorney General Eric Holder, John Brennan (Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Assistant to Pres. Obama), and Jeh Johnson (General Counsel US Department of Defense) as well as a number of noted American and European academics and some European military representatives.

Professor Lewis will attend the symposium with several ONU Law students currently enrolled in the Law of War Seminar he is currently teaching as part of ONU Law’s interactive January Term.