On the picture H.E. Mikalai Barysevich with Michèle Coninsx.
Yesterday, H.E. Mr Mikalai M. Barysevich, Ambassador for the Republic of Belarus to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, paid a courtesy visit to Eurojust. The visit was hosted by the President of Eurojust, Ms Michèle Coninsx.
The visit included a general discussion on Eurojust’s role in fighting organised crime and terrorism.
By Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and chairman of BRAC.
On 18 May 2015 from 16:00 to 17:30 at the International Institute of Social Studies ISS, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, will describe in his lecture how he set up BRAC, now grown to become the world’s largest NGO, to deal with the multiple dimensions of poverty.
He will highlight the successes and challenges BRAC has faced in developing and managing programmes in health, education and financial services, including employment and income generation, with the underlying goal of helping the poor to lift themselves out of poverty.
Commission proposes new Emergency Assistance instrument for faster crisis response within the EU.
As the refugee crisis continues to put pressure on many European Member States, today the European Commission has proposed an Emergency Assistance instrument to be used within the European Union to provide a faster, more targeted response to major crises, including helping Member States cope with large numbers of refugees.
The initiative comes as the refugee crisis reaches an unprecedented scale with the need to provide immediate emergency support in several Member States hosting large amounts of refugees on their territories.
From the outset the Commission has been committed to supporting its Member States through all means possible and the proposal is a direct follow up to the European Council of 18-19 February, when governments called on the Commission to develop the capacity to provide emergency assistance internally.
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management ChristosStylianides said: “With this proposal, we will be able to deliver emergency assistance for crises much faster than before, inside the European Union. Right now, there’s no doubt that this will be particularly needed to support refugees. No time can be lost in deploying all means possible to prevent humanitarian suffering within our own borders. Today’s proposal will make €700 million available to provide help where it is most needed. I now look to European governments and the European Parliament to quickly back the proposal.”
Member States whose own response capacities are overwhelmed by urgent and exceptional circumstances, such as the sudden influx of refugees or other major disruptions could benefit from this new instrument. The provision of emergency assistance will be based on Article 122(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This will allow for support to be provided in the fastest and broadest possible way, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States.
Emergency assistance would be provided in close coordination with Member States and organisations such as UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and international organisations, and include the provision of basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine to the large numbers of children, women and men currently arriving in EU countries.
The Commission will urgently propose, to the European Parliament and to the Council as the budgetary authorities, an amending budget for 2016 to create the budget line for the instrument. The estimated needs for 2016 are €300 million with a further €200 million each for use in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Funding would therefore not be diverted from existing external humanitarian aid programmes outside the EU. The EU remains committed to continue leading the international humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, amongst other global emergencies worldwide where EU humanitarian aid saves lives.
Text and photograph by ECF.The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) has announced the “ECF Princess Margriet Award for Culture” laureates for 2016, namely: theatre-makers and community developers Krétakör(Budapest, Hungary) and citizen laboratory for digital culture Medialab-Prado (Madrid, Kingdom of Spain). The award ceremony will take place in Amsterdam on 15 March 2016 under the protection of TRH Princess Margriet (former President), Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (President of ECF and Extraordinary Member of the Board). Krétakör and Medialab-Prado haven been chosen for the 2016 ECF Princess Margriet Award for Culture for their exceptional bodies of artistic and cultural work in developing critical spaces of social participation and political experimentation through culture. By honouring these two laureates, ECF is highlighting the importance of culture in creating a more open and inclusive Europe. This is a Europe that ECF believes in and supports through its entire body of work, from its grant schemes and cultural managers’ exchange programme to its Connected Action for the Commons programme, which connects cultural change-makers at grassroots level and encourages new models of participation and democracy.For more information:
European Cultural Foundation: www.culturalfoundation.eu/pma-2016
Baron Henri Estramant and the Honourable Mr Kadri Veseli, Chairman of the Parliament of Kosovo looks with satisfaction to the article of HE Mimoza Ahmetaj, Ambassador of Kosovo to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg published on Diplomat Magazine.
City Hall of Brussels, Wednesday, 17 February 2016: Kosovo fêted the eight anniversary of its independence with much elegance and amidst rather prominent guests including a visiting Kosovar delegation headed by The Honourable Kadri Veseli, Speaker of Parliament, deputising for the Mayor of Brussels, Yvan Mayeur, the alderman Philippe Close (in charge of finances, human resources and tourism), or celebrity pastry chef Michael Lewis-Anderson.
Host, H.E. Ambassador Mimoza Ahmetaj, treated her guests, who hailed from a plethora of EU institutions but likewise from federal Belgian authorities and heads of missions to the EU and to Belgium, to a delectable buffet of Kosovar dishes as well as a selection of smoked and white Sabaja beers and a cake specially baked with the Kosovar colours and symbols for the soirée.
German ambassador to Belgium, Rüdiger Lüdeking and USA DCM to Belgium, Mark Storella.
H.E. Peet Jahilo, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia in the Kingdom of the Netherlands welcoming their guests together with his wife Marika and twin daughters Matilde and Eliisabet.By Roy Lie A Tjam.
Estonia Independence Day (Iseseisvuspäev) defacto is Estonia’s National Day, celebrated on the 24th February. This day commemorates Estonia’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Russia Republic in 1918. The festivity took place at the Hotel Hilton in The Hague.
H.E. Mr. Peep Jahilo, the Estonian Ambassador hosted a reception to mark the 98th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. He invited fellow Ambassadors, dignitaries and well-wishers to celebrate Independence Day 2016. Among the attendees were the Ambassadors of Denmark, Turkey, Sweden, Morocco, Finland, Ireland, Russia, Cameroon, Austria, Canada, Spain, Australia, Latvia. Other attendees included Dutch dignitaries, important members the business community, international organisations and International courts.
In Tallinn, Independence Day is celebrated with a grand parade and social gatherings all over the country. Interestingly, since August 20th 1991, Estonia also has a Restoration Independence Day. This is because the authority of the USSR in Estonia had been declared illegal, in doing so they reconstituted the pre-1940 state.
The Estonian economy is thriving and the road ahead is bright. According to Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, “Estonia is a new Nordiccountry; rigid in foundation but flexible in solutions.”
Estonia has become one of the most integrated countries in the North Europe, being the member of international- and European institutions such as NATO, OECD, Euro zone, OPCW, ICC, FAO, Schengen Convention, UNESCO, UNHCR, Kyoto Protocol, ilo, OIF (observer)
Estonia encourages forward thinking solutions in business, especially in the IT-sector. Estonians therefore make extensive use of the e-services phenomena: e-signature, e-tax office, e-prescriptions, e-voting, just mention a few. The country established an e-residence program last year, which makes Estonian e-services also available to foreigners.
Estonian cake.Information:
Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in The Hague http://www.estemb.nl/Photography by the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in The Hague.
confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is sufficient evidence. In that event, the case will go to trial before a Trial-Chamber;
decline to confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is insufficient evidence and adjourn the proceedings against Mr Al Mahdi;
adjourn the hearing and request the Prosecutor to provide further evidence or conduct further investigations or to amend any charge for which the evidence submitted appears to establish that a crime other than the crime charged was committed.
The Defence and the Prosecution cannot directly appeal this decision however they can request authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber to appeal it.
The confirmation of charges hearing is not a trial. It is a Pre-Trial hearing held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged. If charges are confirmed, the Pre-Trial Chamber commits the case for trial before a Trial Chamber, which conducts the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial.
For more information on this case, please click here.
The Paris attacks of Friday 13 November 2015 that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more, and the attacks in Beirut the day before, shook the whole world for their audacity, high number of victims and the calculated manner in which they were carried out.
French President Francois Hollande declared the attacks an ‘act of war’ that had to be addressed as such, noting they were the deadliest attacks in France since World War II. But declaring war on terrorists begs a number of troubling questions.
If Islamic State or ‘Daesh’ terrorists launched a ‘war’ on France, does that imply that both parties are bound by the Geneva Conventions and that terrorists enjoy the rights of lawful combatants? Or are terrorists simply criminals which armed forces can target and execute lawfully in Syria and Iraq? What about Boko Haram? Or rampaging militia in the Central African Republic, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo? Or extreme violence in Mexico, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Pakistan or Somalia?
Dr.Lyal S. Sunga asks whether international law can meet the challenges of today’s lawless conflicts and considers the options from the perspectives of human rights, humanitarian law and criminal justice. Dr. Sunga, Head of the Rule of Law program at The Hague Institute for Global Justice, and Visiting Professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden, has conducted monitoring, investigation, reporting, technical cooperation, training and teaching in some 55 countries over the last 25 years in human rights, humanitarian law and international criminal law.
“Can International Law Meet the Challenges of Today’s Lawless Conflicts?” Lecture by HILAC and T.M.C. Asser Instituut on March 17th. Registration is not needed. Seats are available on a first-come first-served basis.
Speaker: Dr. Lyal S. Sunga, Head, Rule of Law Program, The Hague Institute for Global Justice and Visiting Professor, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
March 17 March, at 19:00h
Fee: Free
Venue: T.M.C. Asser Instituut – R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20-22 , The Hague
Organiser: T.M.C. Asser Instituut, Amsterdam Center for International Law and Het Nederlandse Rode Kruis in cooperation with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague
Michèle Coninsx, President of Eurojust, visited on February 18th the Belgian House of Representatives in Brussels to speak at a conference on counter-terrorism together with various Belgian government officials and academics. The purpose of the event, which was organised by the Itinera Institute in cooperation with the European Corporate Security Association, was to explore some of the difficult questions surrounding counter-terrorism strategies, and notably what role security and intelligence services should play in protecting a democratic constitutional state from the threat of terrorism.Ms Coninsx highlighted the positive role Eurojust plays in combating terrorism in the European Union, underlined the importance of timely exchanges of information at all stages of criminal proceedings and outlined some of the challenges to prosecution and judicial cooperation among Member States in terrorism cases. After their respective readings, the speakers participated in a panel discussion on the topics of intelligence, terrorism and de-radicalisation.
H.E. Mr Essid said: “Tunisia, since its accession to the Rome Statute, participated actively in the work of the Court and has always worked in favour of dialogue and consensus. These two principles have been implemented at the national level and have also enabled Tunisia to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. Tunisia, which led its democratic transition process successfully, is more than ever committed to the rule of law and respect of freedoms and human rights”.
ICC Prosecutor Bensouda equally expressed her appreciation for Tunisia’s support for the activities of her Office, and stressed that: “the Arab world and the wider Middle East have an important role to play in strengthening adherence to the principles of international criminal justice and the rule of law”.
“By ratifying the Rome Statute, Tunisia has demonstrated leadership and has confirmed its firm commitment to the fight against impunity for atrocity crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court. My Office welcomes the opportunity to further strengthen its cooperation with Tunisia”.
During the visit, H.E. Mr Essid unveiled a mosaic of “Virgil and the Muses” offered by the Government of the Republic of Tunisia, illustrating Tunisia’s historical legal heritage. This initiative reflects Tunisia’s firm commitment to the ICC and against impunity for the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, crimes that are within the ICC’s jurisdiction and are of concern to the international community.
ICC Registrar von Hebel thanked Tunisia’s Head of Government and said: “The ICC today occupies an iconic building that serves as a symbol of international criminal justice. Artwork donated by States Parties will become an integral part of the Court’s new premises and serve to remind all those who visit the Court of the strong commitment by the international community to the Rome Statute and the work of the ICC”.
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Estonia has become one of the most integrated countries in the North Europe, being the member of international- and European institutions such as NATO, OECD, Euro zone, OPCW, ICC, FAO, Schengen Convention, UNESCO, UNHCR, Kyoto Protocol, ilo, OIF (observer)
Estonia encourages forward thinking solutions in business, especially in the IT-sector. Estonians therefore make extensive use of the e-services phenomena: e-signature, e-tax office, e-prescriptions, e-voting, just mention a few. The country established an e-residence program last year, which makes Estonian e-services also available to foreigners.
