Columbia Law School Conference to Explore the Laws of War: Past, Present, and Future
Nov. 21 Event, "From Gettysburg to Guantánamo: 150 Years of the Lieber Code and the Law of Armed Conflict," Will Examine the Continuing Significance of the Lieber Code, Written in 1863 by Columbia Law School Professor Francis Lieber.
War is the exception. The ultimate object of all modern war is a renewed state of peace.
--Francis Lieber, 1863
New York, November 12, 2013—At the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed an order governing the conduct of Union forces. Written by Columbia Law School Professor Francis Lieber, the so-called Lieber Code was the first attempt to codify the law of armed conflict—and ultimately influenced international laws of war such as the Hague Conventions. Today, as the U.S. and other nations confront challenges in modern warfare, what can the treatise teach us about the development of international humanitarian law?
This question and more will be the focus of a daylong Nov. 21 conference at Columbia Law School.
“From Gettysburg to Guantánamo: 150 Years of the Lieber Code and the Law of Armed Conflict” will celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the influential Lieber Code, explore the origins and import of the document in its Civil War context, its impact on the development of international humanitarian law, and modern challenges in the legal regulation of armed conflict and securing civilian protection.
The conference will feature a keynote address by U.S. Army Brigadier General Rich Gross, Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Conference details:
Who: Legal scholars and military and humanitarian leaders from around the world:
- U.S. Army Brigadier General Rich Gross, Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, keynote speaker
- Major General Blaise Cathcart, Judge Advocate General of the Canadian Armed Forces
- Martin Zwanenburg, Senior Legal Adviser to the Netherlands Ministry of Defense
- Jelena Pejic, Senior Legal Adviser, International Committee of the Red Cross
- Sir Daniel Bethlehem, Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School and former Legal Adviser to the United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- Sir Adam Roberts, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford; Emeritus Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford
- Columbia Law School Professor Sarah H. Cleveland, former Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State under President Barack Obama
- Columbia Law School Professor Matthew C. Waxman, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs in the Bush Administration; Faculty Chair, Roger Hertog Program on Law and National Security
- Columbia Law School Professor Philip C. Bobbitt, a former Senior Director at the National Security Council
- Col. (rtd) Dr. Bruce Oswald CSC, Australian Armed Forces; Associate Professor, Melbourne Law School
- John Fabian Witt, Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law, Yale Law School
- Robert Chesney, Charles I. Francis Professor in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
- Dapo Akande, University Lecturer in Public International Law and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC)
- Naz Modirzadeh, Senior Fellow, HLS-Brookings Project on Law and Security, Harvard Law School
What: “From Gettysburg to Guantánamo: 150 Years of the Lieber Code and the Law of Armed Conflict,” a conference exploring the past, present, and future of the laws of war
When: Thursday, November 21, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Where: Columbia Law School
Jerome Greene Hall
435 W. 116th St.
New York, NY 10027
NOTE: Media must RSVP no later than 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 20, to [email protected]. Press credentials will be required.
Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, Journal of Transnational Law, and Roger Hertog Program on Law and National Security are sponsoring the event, together with the Lieber Society of the American Society of International Law.