International Dispute Settlement: Developments and Challenges

UNA Westminster

“International Dispute Settlement: Developments and Challenges”

7^th Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen International Law Lecture

4^th March 2009

This event hosted by the Westminster branch of United Nations Association was held at SOAS. I attended not because it was a large UNA meeting but for simple nostalgic reasons of revisiting my university, and had little knowledge of what the main event was about.

I was astonished to learn that the topic was on International Law and was co-hosted by the Bar Association. Therefore, over half the audience was made up of lawyers and I knew at that moment I would not understand the lecture.

Before the main speaker began, I was greeted by a man sitting in front of me. He was very welcoming and eager to know who I was. Little did I know, I was speaking to a Prince – Prince Mohsin Khan Ali of Hyberdad, and had given me his number asking me to call him early morning if given the opportunity. Also, I found two people within the crowd whom I recognised and knew me, which was great.

The lecture was given by Professor Maurice Mendelson QC, who specialises in public international law including international litigation, arbitration and negotiations with the government. He covered some historical context of the International Court of Justice with how inactive it was during the 60-70s compared to now. He spoke of the law side of the United Nations and how most states break or bend the rules if they feel they can get away with it. If that is the case, laws that have been implemented are not stringent enough to punish those that break the law at will, highlighting the problems and challenges of inconsistency. He stated that “International law is a fragmented system” as governments cannot force states to agree to treaties for universal participation, which is one of the problems. For example, no mechanism for law exists in Gaza, which caused great hardship for its people.

From what I gathered from this incredibly specialised lecture was that the development of international law requires evolution with United Nations aid. The UN is universal governmental body thereby international law should be strengthened and implemented accordingly within member states.