CPG Winter Academy on Human Rights 2015
Agenda
Lectures and presentations
Henning Glaser, Director, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
“Human Rights – Promise, Philosophy and Politics”
Emerlynne Gil, International Commission of Jurists
“Human Rights and International Organizations”
Prof. Dr. Prasit Aekaputra, Dean, Faculty of Law, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University
“International Law and the Right to Development”
Kai Shing Wong, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University
“Human Rights in China”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gothom Arya, Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University
“Human Rights and Peace”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Pokpong Srisanit, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
“Human Rights and Criminal Justice in Thailand”
Prof. Dr. Amara Pongsapich, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
“NHRIs and International Human Rights Mechanisms”
Veerawit Tianchainan, Director, Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation
“Human Rights in Action – The Work of Human Rights Defenders in Thailand”
Dr. Lasse Schuldt, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
“Human Dignity and the Principle of Proportionality”
Hon. Slavica Banic, Justice, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
“Freedom of Assembly in Croatia”
Prof. Dr. Robert Esser, Director, Research Center for Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings, Faculty of Law, Passau University
“Arrest and Pre-Trial Detention – International Standards”
Dr. Dominikus Rato, M.si, Faculty of Law, University of Jember
“Human Rights and Ethnography in Indonesia”
Drs. Supardi, M.Pd, Faculty of Law, University of Jember
“Human Rights in Indonesian Justice Criminal System”
Prof. Dr. Niels Petersen, Faculty of Law, Münster University
“The International Protection of the Rights to Life” and
“Political Rights in International Human Rights Treaties”
Report
On 19-23 October 2015 CPG hosted its 4th Winter School on “Human Rights” at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. Throughout five days with 15 lectures and presentations, over 50 students from various countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and the United States, attended classes and discussion panels on fundamental questions and current issues of human rights in theory and practice. A main aspect of the Winter School was the discussion on general principles of human rights.
Henning Glaser, the Director of CPG, welcomed the participants and held the opening lecture on “Human Rights – Promise, Philosophy and Politics”, elaborating on the interwoven debate of human rights principles not just on a legal, but also on a political and – not less significant – philosophical level. Dr. Lasse Schuldt, DAAD lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University and CPG member, gave a presentation on the fundamental concepts of “Human Dignity and the Principle of Proportionality”.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gothom Arya from the Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University elaborated on the relationship between “Human Rights and Peace”. International frameworks of human rights and human rights protection as another main subject of the Winter School was covered by several lectures. Prof. Dr. Niels Petersen from the Faculty of Law at Münster University contributed with two presentations on “The International Protection of the Rights to Life” and “Political Rights in International Human Rights Treaties”. Prof. Dr. Robert Esser, Director of the Research Center for Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings at the Faculty of Law of Passau University focused on international criminal law in his lecture on “Arrest and Pre- Trial Detention – International Standards”.
Prof. Dr. Prasit Aekaputra, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Huachiew Chalermprakiet University, presented on “International Law and the Right to Development”. Complementing the international level, human rights in national jurisdictions were introduced for Thailand, Indonesia, China and Croatia. Assist. Prof. Dr. Pokpong Srisanit from the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University gave a presentation on “Human Rights and Criminal Justice in Thailand”. Indonesia was covered by the presen-tations of Drs. Supardi, M. Pd., Faculty of Law, University of Jember, Indonesia, on “Human Rights in Indonesian Justice Criminal System” and o
Dr. Dominikus Rato, M. Si., from the same faculty on “Human Rights and Ethnography in Indonesia”. Kai Shing Wong from the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University draw the attention of the audience to the current situation of “Human Rights in China”. From a European perspective, Judge Slavica Banic, Justice at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, explored in her paper the current legal framework and political challenges of the “Freedom of Assembly in Croatia”. The academic program of Winter School was completed by contributions of practitioners from human rights organizations who provided first-hand impressions of their work and informed about opportunities and challenges their organizations are confronted with. Emelynne Gil, senior international legal adviser at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), presented general aspects of “Human Rights and International Organizations”.
Prof. Dr. Amara Pongsapich introduced to the work and performance of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand which she is heading as Chairperson. A third contribution came from Veerawit Tianchainan,Founder and Executive Directorof the Thai Committee for RefugeesFoundation. He shared his personal experiences in his presentation on “Human Rights in Action –The Work of Human Rights Defenders in Thailand” (see also his interview below).An additional day trip to the historical site of Ayutthaya complemented the academic program. After completing the Winter School many the students took the opportunity to attend CPG 6th Annual International Conference on “Law and Ideology” (see report below).