None
Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Robert Clarke is off to Washington after winning inaugural International Humanitarian Law Student Writing Competition.

Robert is one of two winners of the first International Humanitarian Law Student Writing Competition, co-sponsored by the American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Center) and the American Society of International Law’s Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict (ASIL).

Hadar Harris, Executive Director and Adjunct Professor of Law, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law, said the IHL Student Writing Competition sought submissions of academic papers on the topic of IHL from students currently enrolled in a law degree program in the United States and abroad.  The submissions were reviewed by two prestigious groups of IHL experts.
The purpose of the competition is to enhance scholarship and deepen understanding among students in this important area of international law. The award includes publication of the paper and student membership in ASIL. In addition, Robert  will present his paper at the “International Humanitarian Law: Emerging Issues in the Law of Armed Conflict” conference in Washington, DC, on March 23rd, and will attend ASIL’s annual meeting, which coincides with the conference. The event will be webcast live at www.wclcenterforhr.org .

Robert’s paper  entitled “The Klub-K Anti-Ship Missile System – A Hypothetical Case Study in Perfidy and Its Repression deals generally with a Russian naval missile designed to be concealed inside a shipping container and launched from a merchant vessel (as yet it has only been marketed as a design concept). The argument of the paper is that this sort of tactic abuses the protection which international humanitarian law accords to civilian vessels, and is therefore perfidious and unlawful. However, the sanctions available under international law, in particular criminal prosecution, would be unlikely to sufficiently deter individuals from providing and using such weaponry.

Professor Doug Hodgson, coordinator of the International Humanitarian and Refugee Law unit LAWS3318 had this to say about Robert’s paper:

“I would like to say that Robert chose an innovative and original topic and displayed excellent research and scholarly and critical analytical skills in preparing for, and writing, his assignment.  It was one of the best papers I have had the pleasure to assess in my 15 years of teaching International Humanitarian and Refugee Law LAWS331 8 and Robert was therefore awarded the Richard Kiwanuka Prize for the best performance in the unit (Semester Two, 2010).  If memory serves me correctly, I awarded Robert the highest mark I have ever awarded an assignment submitted in this unit.

Tags

Channels
Awards and Prizes
Groups
Cultural Precinct — Law