Plaidoiries en faveur d’Israël et la Palestine concernant Gaza

Public pleadings by students of the Geneva Academy on the summer 2014 Gaza conflict

The conflict in and around Gaza in July/August 2014, called by Israel « Operation Protective Edge », claimed many civilian victims and gave rise to numerous mutual accusations of violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In January 2015, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the opening of a preliminary investigation into the situation.

In the framework of the course on IHL given by Prof. Marco Sassòli of the Law Faculty for the Master in Advanced Studies in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, students will plead for Israel and for Palestine arguing that the side they represent has respected IHL while the adverse side has violated IHL. These pleadings will take place in

Room MR 070 of Uni Mail (bd du Pont d’Arve 40)
on Saturday, 7 May, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m

In front of a jury composed of Professor Marco Sassòli of the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva and Ms. Elvina Pothelet doctoral student and course assistant, students (whose roles were attributed by the lot) will plead on:

• The classification of the conflict and of Gaza as a territory,
• The blockade of Gaza and Israel’s obligations concerning humanitarian needs,
• The targeting of persons and objects and weapons used,
• Proportionality and precautions in attacks,
• The opportunities and obstacles of criminal proceedings before the ICC.

The public is welcome to attend the pleadings which will be performed in English.