Highlights
2023
PILPG's International Law Online Summer School- Ukraine
July 2023- Professor Paul R. Williams co-organized a week-long program with 1000 registrants from more than 40 countries around the world, focused on legal issues arising from the war in Ukraine, and addressed topics such as: the Law of Armed Conflict, Atrocity crimes (such as Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, Crime of Aggression), Human Rights, International judicial processes and procedures, Investigations on International Crimes in Ukraine, Introduction to Transitional Justice and the Future of International Law.
2022
Expert Roundtable: Presentation of Draft Legislation for a High War Crimes Court for Ukraine
July 2022- Professor Paul Williams co-organized and moderated an expert roundtable on the need for a High War Crimes Court in Ukraine to investigate and prosecute those allegedly responsible for atrocity crimes committed in Ukraine since February 2014. Panelists included: Ievgenii Iaroshenko of CrimeaSOS, Dr. Antsuprova, Rasim Babanly of the Ukrainian Supreme Court, Glenda Bleiberg, Ambassador Stephen Rapp, and Dr. Michael Scharf.
This expert roundtable is part of our Ukraine Series, a series which aims to discuss recent developments in the Ukraine-Russia war, ponder complex legal questions related to those developments, and inform audiences of important international legal principles.
Ukraine Policy Planning Initiative
March 2022- PILPG’s Policy Planning Initiative supports the development of long term, strategic policy planning that is crucial to international accountability, global conflict resolution, and the establishment of international peace by advising policymakers, policy shapers, and key stakeholders.
2021
Lawyering Peace
December 2021 - Cambridge University Press published Dr. Paul R. Williams’ latest book, Lawyering Peace.
In all but the rarest circumstances, the world’s deadly conflicts are ended not through outright victory, but through a series of negotiations. To successfully mitigate conflict drivers and ensure the negotiations lead to a durable peace, the negotiating parties must address a number of puzzles, including those of security arrangements, power-sharing, natural resources, self-determination, and governance. Successfully resolving these puzzles requires the parties to navigate a number of conundrums and make choices and design mechanisms that are appropriate to the particular context of the conflict, and which are most likely to lead to a durable peace. Through a rigorous, yet accessible, treatment of over 20 peace processes, Lawyering Peace aims to help future negotiators build better and more durable peace agreements. This book is designed to help parties, practitioners, and academics work their way through the multitude of decision points they face in a negotiation, and then to draft legal text that encapsulates that agreement in a way which will promote the durability of the agreement or constitution.
International Criminal Court Amicus Curiae Brief
December 2021 - Dr. Paul R. Williams and the Public International Law & Policy Group submitted an amicus brief to the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in the Case of the Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen.
Click on the image above to learn more.
PILPG submitted observations on the allocation of the burden of proof and the appropriate standard of proof in relation to the applicability of the grounds excluding criminal responsibility enshrined in art. 31(1)(a) and (d) of the Rome Statute.
Recommendations and Comments to the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues
December 2021 - Dr. Paul R. Williams and PILPG Research Fellow Isabela Karibjanian contributed to the discussion during the 14th Session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues. Their written intervention proposed discrete recommendations for the incorporation of minority rights into peace agreements and draws from the theme of the Forum's fifth session: "Towards a lasting peace: positive initiatives to better protect the rights of minorities."
Click on the image above to learn more.
PILPG Featured at The World Trade Organization’s Trade for Peace Week 2021
November 2021 - Dr. Paul R. Williams—along with PILPG Managing Director Professor Milena Sterio and Senior Peace Fellow Ambassador Zorica Marić-Djordjević—was featured in two of Trade for Peace Week’s substantive panels, the High Level Opening Panel on Trade and Security and The Future of Peace in Eurasia. Through a focus on Eurasia, this year's Trade for Peace Week program, organized in partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan, addressed opportunities, challenges, and approaches to harnessing trade as a vehicle to promote peace and security.
Click on the images below to watch recordings of the High Level Opening Panel on Trade and Security and the Future of Peace in Eurasia panel discussions.
Celebrating PILPG’s 25th Anniversary
September 2021 - Dr. Paul R. Williams traveled to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Public International Law & Policy Group at the American Branch of the International Law Association’s International Law Weekend-Midwest conference. At the conference, Dr. Williams was invited to speak on a panel entitled “The Academy and the Pursuit of Peace and Human Rights.”
Dr. Williams, joined by PILPG Co-Founder Michael Scharf, PILPG Senior Legal Advisor Darin Johnson, PILPG Strategic Advisor Drew Mann, and PILPG Research Fellow Isabela Karibjanian
Dr. Williams speaks on a panel entitled “The Academy and the Pursuit of Peace and Human Rights” alongside PILPG Managing Director Professor Milena Sterio and PILPG Strategic Advisor Drew Mann
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Ohrid Peace Accords
August 2021 - Dr. Paul R. Williams traveled to North Macedonia to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accords. Dr. Williams was recognized by the current multi-ethnic government for the early efforts to draft and help negotiate the Accords, along with former NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson, and Ambassador Pieter Feith. Dr. Williams was invited to deliver remarks reflecting on the impact of Ohrid Accords.
Click the image above to access a video of Dr. Williams’ remarks.
Sudanese Peace Process: Re-launch of the Negotiations between the Transitional government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement North (Alhilu)
June 2021 - PILPG Managing Director Professor Milena Sterio and Dr. Paul R. Williams traveled to Juba, South Sudan to renew PILPG's provision of on-site legal support and technical assistance to the Sudanese peace talks that were relaunched between the Transitional Government of Sudan and Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement North led by Abdulaziz Alhilu on Wednesday, May 26th. For the past 15 years, PILPG's efforts in Sudan have remained in pursuit of peace through the provision of legal assistance and technical support across a range of actors. PILPG's role remains a supportive one with the purpose of encouraging dialogue across Sudan and empowering the range of groups to maintain control over their own processes.
2020
Dual Keynote Address with the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina: 25 Years of the Dayton Peace Accords
October 15, 2020 - Dr. Paul R. Williams joined Ambassador Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, to deliver a dual keynote address reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords.
Click on the image above to watch the keynote address.
The event, hosted by Dutch peace organization PAX and Utrecht University’s Centre for Global Challenges, featured remarks from both Dr. Williams and Ambassador Inzko, along with questions and commentary from leading scholars from around the globe.
International Criminal Court Amicus Curiae Brief
September 18, 2020 - Dr. Paul R. Williams and the Public International Law & Policy Group submitted an amicus brief to the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in the Case of the Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda.
The PILPG brief addresses the questions of how "attack" is defined under international humanitarian law, particularly in the context of cultural property and hospitals, and whether the meaning of the term “attack” in article 8(2)(e)(iv) of the Rome Statute covers act such as pillaging and destruction, and acts committed in the course of a ratissage operation.
Research Handbook on post-conflict State Building
August 2020 - Dr. Paul R. Williams joined Milena Sterio, the Charles R. Emrick Jr. – Calfee Halter & Griswold Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, to co-edit the Research Handbook on Post-Conflict State Building, published in August 2020 by Edward Elgar Publishing.
As a conflict ends and the parties begin working towards a durable peace, practitioners and peacebuilders are faced with the possibilities and challenges of building new or reformed political, security, judicial, social, and economic structures. This Handbook analyzes these elements of post-conflict state building through the lens of international law, which provides a framework through which the authors contextualize and examine the many facets of state building in relation to the legal norms, processes, and procedures that guide such efforts across the globe. The volume aims to provide not only an introduction to and explanation of prominent topics in state building, but also a perceptive analysis that augments ongoing conversations among researchers, lawyers, and advocates engaged in the field.
Click here for more information about the Research Handbook on Post-Conflict State Building.
The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law
March 2020 - Dr. Paul R. Williams joined Case Western Reserve University School of Law Dean Michael Scharf and Cleveland-Marshall School of Law Associate Dean Milena Sterio to co-author The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law, published in March 2020 by Cambridge University Press.
Written as the decade-long Syria conflict nears an end, this is the first book-length treatment of how the Syrian war has changed international law. In The Syrian Conflict's Impact on International Law, the authors explain the history of the current conflict in Syria and discuss the principles and process of customary international law formation and the phenomenon of accelerated formation of customary international law known as Grotian Moments. They then explore specific examples, including how use of force against ISIS in Syria has changed the law of self-defense against non-state actors, how the allied airstrikes in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons have changed the law of humanitarian intervention, and others. This book seeks to contribute both to understanding the concept of accelerated formation of customary international law and the specific ways the Syria conflict has led to development of new norms and principles in several areas of international law.
Click here for more information about The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law.
Click here to read a review of The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law.
2019
Klatsky Lecture: The Arc of Accountability
Click the photo above to watch the lecture.
August 28, 2019 - “LAWYERING PEACE: INFUSING HUMAN RIGHTS INTO THE PEACE PROCESS”
Dr. Paul R. Williams gave the Bruce J. Klatsky Endowed Lecture on Human Rights and received the 2019 Cox International Law Center's Humanitarian Award for Advancing Global Justice at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Dr. Williams spoke about the arc of accountability in peace processes, starting from the era of impunity, to the time of tribunals, and up to the potential denouement we are now experiencing.
The annual Klatsky Lecture brings together dignitaries, scholars, and practitioners to hear about challenges and innovations in the international legal framework around human rights. Previous speakers include the Special Rapporteur for Crimes against Humanity, a former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
HFAC Testimony - Kosovo’s Wartime Victims: The Quest For Justice
April 30, 2019 - Dr. Paul R. Williams testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on securing justice and accountability for victims of the Kosovo Conflict, with particular attention given to victims of conflict-related sexual violence.
EUrope Events for PILpg’s Rohingya Report
February 2019 - Dr. Paul R. Williams visited Europe for events in London, Amsterdam, and Geneva to discuss PILPG's work documenting the atrocity committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar and steps for future accountability.
In March and April 2018, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), undertook an as yet unprecedented large-scale and comprehensive human rights documentation investigation mission in the refugee camps and settlement areas in Eastern Bangladesh. The purpose of this investigation mission was to provide an accurate accounting of the patterns of abuse and atrocity crimes perpetrated against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and to help inform the policy decisions related to accountability in Myanmar. PILPG’s investigation team ultimately conducted 1,024 interviews with Rohingya refugees, and those interviews are the basis of this Report.
PILPG’s investigation collected more than 15,000 pages of documentation collected from the 1,024 interviews conducted by PILPG. PILPG reviewed all of this documentation and identified more than 13,000 instances of documented grave human rights violations. Based on all of this information, PILPG drafted its initial Factual Findings Report to outline the factual findings and initial conclusions from PILPG’s investigation mission.
Following the conclusion of the investigation mission, and with substantial support from an array of international attorneys and international criminal law experts, PILPG conducted an extensive legal analysis of the factual findings. This Factual Findings and Legal Analysis Report analyzes whether, based on the documentation collected during the investigation mission, there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes have been committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State. The legal analysis is intended primarily for policymakers to provide guidance on the international legal ramifications of the investigation mission’s factual findings and to facilitate the formulation of effective measures to respond to the documented atrocities.