The first in a series of lectures looking at the laws that govern modern warfare will take place tomorrow at the University of Wollongong with guest speaker Professor Tim McCormack.
Professor McCormack is a Special Adviser on International Law to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and a Professor of Law at Melbourne University.
He will be speaking on current issues in areas of law regarding armed conflict and the laws involving the conduct of warfare, which essentially decides whether soldiers can attack other soldiers, and what exactly constitutes a ‘soldier’.
Australian Red Cross are putting on the series in conjunction with the UOW Law Faculty, after Josh Pallas, a Red Cross volunteer, received interest with a similar event in Sydney last year.
“I ran some lectures in Sydney and had lots of interest from Wollongong uni students, and we thought ‘how bout we have a lecture series down here?’” said Pallas.
“So we spoke to the guys at the law faculty, and Professor McNamara was really keen to help out, and that’s how we came up with the four lectures we’re having over the course of the year.”
The second lecture will be on May 16 featuring UOW Law Professor Greg Rose, and NSW Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Officer Jane Munro.
WORDS: Hayden Ferrington
