Conference: The Rule of Law and International Development

When: 9:00AM – 5:00PM, Saturday 8 March
Where: TS Eliot Theatre, Merton College
Tickets: £10 (day only), £38 (conference and dinner)

Oxford Lawyers Without Borders is delighted to extend an invitation to our upcoming annual conference. After a successful inaugural conference last year, we seek to continue building a legacy of thought provoking, inspiring conversations about international law with some of the world’s foremost practitioners and advocates in the field. This year, we will be hosting a human rights colloquium unlike any seen in Oxford before.

‘Innovation competition’:
As part of a new initiative, the conference will be centred around an ‘innovation competition.’ Student teams from universities across the UK will be presenting prospective, plausible one-year projects geared towards implementing and improving the rule of law in developing countries.
The universities represented include Exeter, Oxford, King’s College London, Southampton, SOAS, and UCL; and are being mentored by staff at law firms Gibson Dunn, Linklaters, Jones Day, and the Lawyers Without Borders headquarters. The winning teams will receive institutional support to realise their projects.

Panel discussion:
There will also be a panel discussion on the challenges associated with various understandings of the international rule of law.

The panel will be lead by speakers including:

Roger Leese, Chair of Advocates for International Development (A4ID), and Partner at Clifford Chance LL. Through A4ID’s innovative broker service, Roger helps bring together legal experts and those working towards the Millennium Development Goals, ensuring all those who need legal advice can access it. This network involves more than 39,000 lawyers around the world who provide free legal advice to development organisations, civil society groups, bar associations, developing country governments and social enterprises.

Peter van Veen, director of Transparency International’s business integrity programme. Peter joined TI-UK in July 2011 to head the Training & Advisory Services team. He has 20 years of experience in advising companies and has worked for such diverse organisations as The Economist Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Accenture, SRI International, Bertelsmann and SABMiller. He has consulted and spoken extensively on strategic risk management, corporate governance, business ethics and corruption.

In addition, we will have a keynote address on the Rule of Law and International Development, delivered by a leading practitioner, run creative workshops, and host a Mini-Careers Fair with representatives from several major firms. The conference will also include a dinner for delegates, and will allow for ample opportunities to interact with invited speakers, law firm representatives, and fellow law students.

It is our vision to make the event as interactive and enriching as possible for all participants. We hope to see you there!

Those interested in attending should please see our website http://oxlwob.wordpress.com/conference-2014/, which includes information on ticket purchasing.
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