UP College of Law Professor and International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Raul C. Pangalangan lectured on “Comparative Perspectives in International Criminal Justice” in the forum organized by the Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL), in cooperation with the UP Law Center Institute of Human Rights (IHR) and Institute of International Legal Studies (IILS). The event, which was held in the UP Bonifacio Global City campus last January 31, 2020, opened with a remark from PSIL President and IHR Director Prof. Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, followed by Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary J. Eduardo Malaya’s introduction of Judge Pangalangan.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In his lecture, Judge Pangalangan, who is President of the ICC Trial Division, used a Comparative Law approach to explain the differences between, on one hand, the legal regime in the ICC and international criminal tribunals and, on the other, domestic legal systems like the Philippines and the treaty-bodies in international law (either human rights or international humanitarian law). He discussed the modes of liability, the distinction between state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility, and ICC court procedure. He explained that the Court is composed of judges from both common and civil law jurisdictions, and that this fact widens the Court’s perspective. He then highlighted the innovation introduced by the Rome Statute, enabling meaningful victim participation and providing for victim reparations.

After the lecture, IILS Director Prof. Rommel Casis and former Ateneo Law Dean Sedfrey Candelaria spoke as reactors. A robust discussion followed with comments and questions raised by lawyers Neri Colmenares, Harry Roque, and other academics and students in the open forum facilitated by Prof. Andre Palacios.The event closed with remarks from PSIL Secretary Prof. Romel Bagares.