International humanitarian law workshop for judges in Nepal

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) organized a two-day workshop from 9 to 12 April 2019, on international humanitarian law (IHL) for judges, prosecutors and court officers in two different districts (Palpa and Chitwan) of Nepal. The event was conducted in partnership with the National Judicial Academy (NJA) of Nepal where 45 judges from surrounding districts learnt more about the IHL, International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and transitional justice.

In his opening remarks, Kedar Paudel, NJA's deputy executive director, said, "The NJA is pleased to continue its collaboration with the ICRC in promoting the IHL for the judicial sector in the country. The workshop will contribute to gain better understanding of IHL and its link with international law, human rights law and criminal law. It is of specific importance to Nepal as the country is going through a process of transitional justice."

The ICRC has been partnering with the NJA since 2016 to reach out to the judiciary in view of the ongoing transitional justice process and relevance of the IHL. So far, seven such workshops have been organized benefitting over 150 judges. Kirsty Welch, the ICRC's regional legal adviser, joined the workshop as an expert speaker.

André Paquet, head of the ICRC mission in Nepal, while addressing the workshop, said, "Twelve years after the end of the conflict, we continue caring for the conflict-victims. We stand ready to discuss the situation for the conflict-victims, to discuss the application of IHL and to help building guidelines and procedures at the request of the Government of Nepal and the conflict-victims associations."

"On the 70th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the ICRC aims to secure firm re-commitments from States and their societies to the basic rules of the Geneva Conventions and increase universal acceptance and implementation of IHL," Paquet added.