SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER, 2015 – UWI TODAY
17
ON TOUR
Alicia Elias-Roberts, lecturer
in the UWI St Augustine
Faculty of Law spent the summer in the The Hague,
the Netherlands and participated in the United Nations
International Law Fellowship Programme (ILFP). She
said that the United Nations ILFP was an unforgettable
experience that benefitted her in several ways and that
she has returned to work with not only new ideas but new
connections.
Mrs Elias Roberts is the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of
Law and was among a group of 21 participants from various
countries who were selected from over 700 applicants to
be awarded the 2015 United Nations Fellowship. She said
that her participation in the programme has strengthened
her research in several developing areas of international
law including trade and investment law. The UNILFP is
held annually at the Peace Palace and is organized by the
Codification Division of the UNOffice of Legal Affairs. It is
part of the United Nations initiative to provide high quality
training by leading practitioners on a broad range of core
subjects of international law.
Apart from the new things she learnt while on the
programme, she said the other experiences while in the
Hague were also very valuable, including visiting new
places, sampling different cuisine and making many new
friends. The UN had various activities organised for the
group during the course of the programme. The organisers
planned visits to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International
Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and
other important international organisations and embassies.
These visits allowed Mrs. Elias-Roberts to see international
law in action and make direct contact with key players in
international law. The organisers also planned some leisure
trips to different parts of The Netherlands including a boat
cruise in Leiden, day trip to Amsterdam and walk around
the cities of Delft and Den Haag. Mrs Elias Roberts also
joined a group of participants and used the weekends to
visit nearby countries, including France and Belgium and
established important contacts with the other participants
and organisers.
The group of participants was selected from several
countries and included ambassadors who represent their
countries in the Sixth Committee at the United Nations
from Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Colombia; lawyers
working at the Foreign Affairs Ministries in Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Malaysia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, El Salvador; lecturers
from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan; Legal Officer from the
African Union Commission; Legal Officer and Legislative
Drafter from theOECS in St Lucia, and several other lawyers,
ambassadors and academics from various countries.
The facilitators on the programme were among the
most distinguished academics and practitioners in public
international law and included Judge A. Cancado-Trindade,
Judge of the International Court of Justice, The Hague,
Netherlands; Judge Joan Donoghue, Judge of International
Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands; Sir Michael
Wood, Member of the International Law Commission and
Senior Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International
Law University of Cambridge, UK; Professor Georg Nolte,
Member of the International Law Commission, Humboldt
University Berlin, Germany; Judge Kevin Riordan, Deputy
Chief Judge of the Court Martial and Deputy Judge
Advocate General, Former Director-General, Defence
Legal Services, New Zealand Defence Force and Lecturer,
Victoria University ofWellingtonWellington, NewZealand;
Sir Nigel Rodley, Chair of the Human Rights Committee
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom; Professor
Pierre Bodeau-Livinec, Université Paris VIII, Vincennes-
Saint-Denis Saint-Denis, France; Professor Laurence
Boisson De Chazournes, Director of the Department of
Public International Law and International Organization,
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; and Professor
Lucius Caflisch, Member and former Chairman of the
International Law Commission, Professor at the Graduate
Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva,
Switzerland.
The curriculum was very intensive and included
seminars on Introduction to international law, treaty
In front of the Peace Palace with some colleagues on the Programme.
PHOTOS COURTESY ALICIA ELIAS-ROBERTS
Summer inThe Hague
Law Lecturer energized by UN Fellowship
law, State responsibility, international peace and security,
peaceful settlement of international disputes, diplomatic
and consular law, international organizations, international
human rights law, international humanitarian law,
international criminal law, international environmental
law, law of the sea, international trade law and international
investment law.
Mrs. Elias-Roberts said that she was very grateful
that she was selected to participate in the United Nations
Fellowship programme believes that the experience will
strengthen her professional development. Mrs. Elias-
Roberts has over 13 years’ experience as an academic
and her teaching and research focuses on the areas of
Public International Law, Oil and Gas Law, International
Environmental Law and Administrative Law.
Alicia Elias-Roberts at an ILFP Lunch with a colleague in the Netherlands.
