Centre Co-Director James Harrison will lead a policy seminar in Brussels on 2 March which will focus on researching findings about labour rights provisions in EU trade agreements. Full details of the seminar are set out below.

Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU Trade Agreements: Can current limitations be overcome?

Warwick Brussels Office , Avenue d'Auderghem 22-28, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium

Thursday March 2^nd, 4.00pm-6.00pm followed by a drinks reception

Please Register Here

This policy seminar will present recent research findings which highlight the limitations in the functioning of labour provisions in trade and sustainable development (TSD) chapters in EU trade agreements. The researchers will set out the aims of the TSD chapters and explain the key problems in achieving them. This will provide the basis for a discussion between all seminar participants about possible ways of overcoming the limitations that have been identified.

Key questions for discussion will include:

· What results and impacts have the monitoring and dialogue mechanisms within the TSD chapters achieved so far? Can they function more effectively in the future? Can the role of civil society become more significant?

· To what extent can (1) increased prioritisation of TSD chapters by key actors; (2) better resourcing of the TSD chapter’s key functions; (3) greater enforceability of provisions; and/or (4) better recognition of the different issues faced in different trading partner contexts overcome current limitations?

· Do we have to look beyond the ‘TSD chapter’ model to ensure that the social dimensions of EU FTAs are appropriately addressed?

This policy seminar originates from an ESRC-funded research project entitled “Working Beyond the Border: European Union Trade Agreements and International Labour Standards. The project team are Dr. Mirela Barbu, Dr. Liam Campling and Professor Adrian Smith from Queen Mary University of London and Dr. James Harrison and Dr. Ben Richardson from the University of Warwick

Conor Foley, Humanitarian Aid Expert, will talk on “The Protection of Civilians by UN Peacekeepers” on Friday 10th February, 2017 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Ramphal R1.13 followed by a drinks reception from 4:00pm – 5:00pm when Conor will give a careers talk to students who are interested in his experiences of working in over 25 conflict zones for a variety of UN and NGO humanitarian agencies.

Places are limited so please register your interest to attend this event at law.events@warwick.ac.uk

  The Protection of Civilians by UN Peacekeepers

There are now over 100,000 United Nations (UN) uniformed peacekeeping personnel deployed around the world in missions that have legal authority from the Security Council, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to use force to protect civilians (POC). POC’s emergence poses challenges to the development of international law that are as significant as the original concept of UN peacekeeping itself. Armed soldiers are being given legal permission to enter the territory of other States and protect people from certain grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. This raises two inter-linked questions: first of all, what gives the Security Council the right to offer such protection and secondly, what is the nature of the obligation on the mandated mission to provide it?

Brief biography:

Conor Foley's next book The Protection of Civilians by UN Peacekeepers: to save succeeding generations, will be published by Cambridge University Press later this year. He has worked in over 25 conflict zones for a variety of UN and NGO humanitarian agencies. He devised the first scenario-based training course on Protection of Civilians for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and then worked with four missions - MONUSCO, UNAMID, UNOCI and UNMISS - to devise tailored training courses. He lives in Brazil and is a Visiting Professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.

We currently have a paid opportunity for students to become involved in social media/publicity for the magazine. To apply, read the following paragraph to find out whether you are suitable for the role, and email your CV and covering letter (150 words) to Alice (a.panepinto@warwick.ac.uk) by Monday 13^th February.

The successful candidate will help to maintain and strengthen Lacuna’s social media profile (Facebook and Twitter). They will need to be able to post/tweet in relation to the magazine’s content on a daily basis, and interact with responses. They will also be asked to put together databases of email contacts to whom we can publicise particular editions of the magazine. The successful candidate should therefore have an excellent understanding of social media, and the media/magazine industry, and should have a passion for issues of human rights and injustice. He or she will also need to be able to work as part of a small team and communicate with them promptly and effectively. We are looking for candidates to start as soon as possible, who will be available outside of term time and (preferably) in 2017/2017. We are also keen to hear from PhD candidates in their first and second year.