Justice Update – Breakfast at the ASP

Africa Legal Aid (AFLA) panel at #ASP18, photo by Janet Anderson

Janet and Stephanie catch up in a cafe at the annual meeting of the International Criminal Court.

In the main hall the general debate is taking place – and we’ll discuss that another time. But part of the fun of the ASP are the side meetings – where states and NGOs combine to put some of the big issues of the court up for public discussion. 

For example, a Monday morning breakfast session with ambassadors, lawyers and NGOs looked at what lessons can be learned from the collapse of the trial of Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and his supporter Charles Blé Goudé. 

Call it what it is

And over lunch we caught up with the discussion around how to make the legal terminology for ‘sexual violence’ more victim-centric and really help practitioners understand what makes violence ‘sexual’. The campaign by Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice ‘Call it what it is’ has had a tremendous effect.

Catching up in the lobby

In an earlier episode we gave a preview of all the issues dominating this edition of the ASP.