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EVENTS

Immunities and International Crimes: Lessons from the United Nations War Crimes Commission

Courts and Tribunals+2

Date: 10 September 2026

Time: 18.30 - 20.00 CET registration from 18.15 | Followed by a reception

Venue: 3rd floor, The Hague Humanity Hub, Fluwelen Burgwal 58, 2511 CJ, The Hague, and Online

Sponsor

Event Details

As part of our ongoing research on immunities and international crimes, BIICL will host an event in The Hague to explore the contemporary relevance of the pioneering work undertaken by the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) in the 1940s.

The UNWCC - a body comprising leading international law experts of the day and originally chaired by the former President of the Permanent Court of International Justice, Sir Cecil Hurst - supported Allied States to bring domestic prosecutions against Axis personnel, with respect to international crimes committed during WWII and the Holocaust.

Crucially, the UNWCC and its 17 Member States adopted a rule 'rejecting as irrelevant the doctrines of immunities of heads of State and members of Government, and of acts of State'. Before the War ended, the UNWCC supported Member States' indictments against incumbent foreign officials at all levels of seniority, up to Adolf Hitler himself, then still the sitting head of State of Germany. In all, the Commission assisted States to bring charges against more than 36,000 individuals, resulting in at least 2,000 domestic trials and 10,000 convictions.

The panel will consider how this long-overlooked treasure trove of expert legal opinions and case law can be re-integrated into the mainstream and practically utilised, in order to advance debates on immunities and reinforce contemporary efforts to secure accountability for atrocity crimes.

The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Event convened by: Anthony Wenton, Research Fellow in Public International Law, BIICL

Speakers

  • Judge Joanna Korner CMG KC, Judge of the International Criminal Court
  • Prof. Dan Plesch, Professor of Diplomacy and Strategy, SOAS University of London; Associate Tenant, 9BR Chambers; Visiting Research Fellow, BIICL
  • Anthony Wenton, Research Fellow in Public International Law, and Convenor of the project "The Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction: Lessons from the United Nations War Crimes Commission", BIICL

Pricing and Registration

This event is free to attend but pre-registration is required.

This event is now closed for booking

CPD Information

This event offers the equivalent of 1.5 CPD hours.

Contact

If you have any queries, please contact the Events team. 

Event Recording

Please note that our events may be photographed or recorded. These materials will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. If you object to appearing in recordings or photographs, please contact The Event Team to let us know ahead of the event.

Event Cancellation Policy

When you register for an event you will be asked to confirm that you have read and understood our cancellation policy.

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