With the crisis in Ukraine, it was timely for University of Alberta Faculty of Law Professor Joanna Harrington to serve as the guest speaker for an in-house seminar hosted by the Department of Justice at its headquarters in Ottawa. Harrington spoke on the development of criteria to govern future authorizations of military force in response to humanitarian crises and the commission of international crimes, drawing lessons to be learnt from the 2011 intervention in Libya. Drawing a link between the 2005 concept of a responsibility to protect and recent activities to encourage change in how the UN Security Council makes decisions (for both action and inaction), her presentation also examined the potential for procedural change.
As Harrington explained: "Efforts such as those of the 'Small Five' group of states to restrict the use of the veto power to block action to stop the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes are important contributions to the current discussions going forward, as well as the recent formation of the 20-plus group of small and medium states pushing for accountability, coherence and transparency (ACT) at the UN Security Council."
Participants in the seminar included lawyers from the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and the Office of the Judge Advocate General. "Engaging in collaborations and discussions with government allows us all to learn from each other," explains Harrington, "… with cross-sector activities, whether with the private or public sectors, creating links between academia and practice. The translation of research into policy and applied application is also encouraged by Canada's national research councils, and these events also keep the University of Alberta's Faculty of Law in the minds of one of the largest employer of lawyers in the country."
In addition to her in-house seminar for the Department of Justice, Professor Harrington also delivered a lunchtime lecture at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, where she was hosted by the Faculty of Law's International Law Group and the University's inter-disciplinary Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS). Her work on reforming the process aspects for authorizing future military actions in the name of protecting civilians will be published later this year as a chapter in a Cambridge University Press collection on Strengthening the Rule of Law through the UN Security Council. An earlier workshop version of this research was published by the Australian National University's Centre for International Governance & Justice here.