The United Nations (U.N.) Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and U.N. Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares gave the annual Brand-Manatt Lecture on International Law on March 14, 2018. Mr. de Serpa Soares spoke to an audience of more than 125 students, alumni, and distinguished public and private sector attorneys about the current work of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs.
Mr. de Serpa Soares first discussed the Office of Legal Affairs' relationship with the U.N. International Law Commission, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Sean D. Murphy, Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, is serving a second five-year term as a member of the Commission and is its Special Rapporteur for Crimes Against Humanity. Mr. de Serpa Soares next addressed threats to marine biodiversity and the challenges that inhere in protecting marine life outside of any state's national jurisdiction. He highlighted the upcoming intergovernmental "BBNJ" (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction) conference that will negotiate a legally-binding instrument on the issue, under the framework of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Afterwards, Mr. de Serpa Soares switched gears and examined accountability for mass atrocity crimes, through judicial and non-judicial mechanisms. He discussed the historic work of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, two courts created by the U.N. Security Council that have now completed their last trials and closed their doors. Mr. de Serpa Soares also highlighted recent U.N. General Assembly and Security Council initiatives designed to assist the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes in Syria and those committed by members of ISIL (also known as ISIS or Da’esh) in Iraq, and discussed the types of support that the Office of Legal Affairs is likely to provide as these initiatives progress. Lastly, he addressed a range of complex legal issues arising in U.N. peacekeeping operations, including the increasingly robust mandates of peacekeeping missions (operating in situations of active conflict) and corresponding limits on the use of force by U.N. peacekeepers to protect civilians.
Professor Murphy provided opening remarks and moderated a lively, candid question and answer session. The full text of the lecture (minus the Q&A) will be published in volume 50, issue 4 of The George Washington International Law Review.
The Brand-Manatt Lecture was established by Joseph L. Brand, JD '63, and Ambassador Charles T. Manatt, JD '62 in 2016. Mr. Brand is a partner in the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs and a former Trustee of the George Washington University. The late Mr. Manatt, the founder of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, was the former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.