The conference is organised with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and will form the first event of Ireland's chair of the Human Security Network 2008-9. The Human Security Network is a cross-regional group of countries comprised of Austria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia and Thailand, with South Africa as an observer.  For its year as chair of the Network, Ireland has chosen to focus on the theme of gender-based violence. 2008 also marks 25 years since the establishment of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork (formerly the Rape Crisis Centre). The CCJHR is delighted to mark the work of the Centre in providing essential services to victims of sexual violence at this international conference.

The conference will bring together legal experts from Ireland, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Canada and the USA. The keynote address will be delivered by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin T.D. The Director for Public Prosecutions, Mr James Hamilton, will address a panel examining recent debates in Irish law and proposals for reform.

At an international level, significant progress has been made in strengthening legal responses to crimes of sexual violence and in ensuring that sexual violence is recognised as a human rights violation. Security Council Resolution 1325 specifically recognises the gender-specific risks to women in times of violence and the need to develop gender perspectives on peacekeeping and other missions. The practice of the international criminal tribunals (the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), and the adoption of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, have all served to highlight the necessity of reforming the international legal system, so as to bring the tools of international law to bear on crimes of sexual violence. This year, 2008, marks the tenth anniversary of the landmark Akayesu judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which recognised the genocidal nature of rape and provided an definition of the crime of rape. The Akayesu judgment is internationally renowned for its expansive definition of rape based on coercive circumstances.

Ireland has played a leading role, through the consortium on gender based violence, in highlighting sexual violence as a human rights violation, and in highlighting the need for humanitarian interventions to include comprehensive legislative and policy responses to sexual violence.

The recent White Paper on Irish Aid commits the Government to "continue to advocate internationally for greater attention and resources to be devoted to the prevention of gender based violence".  A key element in achieving this aim will be the effective linking of best practice in law reform initiatives from both domestic and international spheres.

Co-Director of the CCJHR, Dr Siobhán Mullally, commented: "Ireland's role within the Human Security Network gives an added opportunity to highlight and advocate for strengthened legal responses to crimes of sexual violence. Human security has been defined as meaning 'freedom from pervasive threats to people's rights, their safety or even their lives.' Sexual violence is such a threat. International law can play a key role in developing normative standards and more effective criminal justice processes to respond to this pervasive threat. In turn, such standards and processes can play a role in supporting law reform efforts at a domestic level."

The conference will be of interest to lawyers, policy-makers, law enforcement bodies and NGOs. Full details of conference programme, speakers bios and papers are available at: http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/events. For further information contact: s.mullally@ucc.ie

The conference commences at 10.15am in the Aula Maxima, UCC. Registration from 9.30am. Advance booking is essential.

Pictured prior to the conference today (June 27th 2008) are L-R: Professor Caroline Fennell, Dean of the Faculty & Head of Department of Law, UCC; Co-Director, Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Mr Micheál Martin, TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Dr Siobhán Mullally, Co-Director, Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, UCC.

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