The International Criminal Court and Syria: Injustice or Geopolitical Reality?

Dr Arman Sarvarian will present on the putative role in the Syrian civil war of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In particular, he will analyze the political and legal problems, the role of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the experience of the first decade of the ICC, and allegations of serious international crimes committed against the Armenian community in Syria.

He will examine whether the UNSC decision to not refer the Syrian situation to the ICC is unjust or merely a reflection of geopolitical realities. In this respect, he will scrutinize the relationship between the UNSC and the ICC with reference to the experiences in Libya and the Sudan.

This public lecture is of interest to civil servants, lawyers, politicians and citizens – especially Armenians from Syria who have relocated to the Republic of Armenia.

About the Speaker:
From September 2011, Dr Sarvarian (United Kingdom and Armenia) has been a lecturer in law, specializing in public international law, at the University of Surrey. He holds an LL.B. from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), an LL.M. in public international law from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in public international law from University College London. He is a member of the English Bar, the International Bar Association Task Force on Counsel Ethics in International Arbitration and the International Law Association Committee on the Use of Force.