Edition 17 | ANZSIL Perspective

BOOK REVIEW: Complicity and the Law of International Organizations

by Kobi Leins | 12 Sep 2020

Complicity and the Law of International Organizations: Responsibility for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations in UN Peace Operations Magdalena Pacholska; Elgar International Law, 2019; 288 pages; AUD285 (hardcover) ISBN: 9781 83910 135 9 We often think of, and write about, the effectiveness of international law in relation to the United Nations and affiliated international organisations, in helping to alleviate breaches of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law, and assisting to uphold human rights more generally. Less thought or written about is how international organisations participate in, and contribute to, human rights and humanitarian law violations in...

Genocide, the duty to protect and complicity: Is Australia sailing close to the wind in Myanmar?

by Felicity Gerry KC, Eva Buzo and Anna McNeil | 12 Sep 2020

As Canada and the Netherlands announce their intention to intervene in proceedings against the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (hereinafter “Myanmar”) concerning alleged violations of the Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice in order "to prevent the crime of genocide and hold those responsible to account", this article considers whether Australia should do the same, particularly as Australia has not adopted all the recommendations of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFM) report of 12 September 2018 and has maintained both diplomatic and military relationships with Myanmar. Background On 11 November 2019, the Republic of The Gambia...

Is a recent Argentine map of the Antarctic Peninsula a potential source of tension within the Antarctic Treaty System?

by Bruno Arpi | 12 Sep 2020

Despite common perceptions to the contrary, national concerns over territorial claims in Antarctica are not completely “frozen”. These national concerns have recently been brought to light by an amendment to Argentinian legislation on “Maritime Spaces” and publication of a map (see figure 1) relating to its claim to a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M). These developments have sparked political tension between Argentina and Chile regarding their overlapping claims to territory in the Antarctic Peninsula. Although these events might at first glance appear peripheral to Australia and New Zealand’s interests in Antarctica, this paper argues that they are pertinent and could have...

Sexual Harassment: Human Rights Obligations

by Melanie O’Brien | 12 Sep 2020

Sexual harassment in the legal profession has been much discussed in Australia this year, after the announcement from the High Court that an investigation had found former High Court Justice Dyson Heydon had sexually harassed six women who worked at the High Court. Other allegations followed. There have been studies in Australia on the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace, and in the legal profession more specifically. The International Bar Association also looked at the pervasiveness of sexual harassment globally, finding that 1 in 3 female respondents had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. It is also commonplace in academia, pushing many women out of the...