ELI was pleased to co-sponsor the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law's symposium on this important issue.
Recent international disasters, both environmental and humanitarian, have resulted in trails of destruction and destitution, as well as an uncertain legal landscape. In response to this situation, the International Law Commission (ILC) has completed a draft report addressing the protection of persons when disasters occur. The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law’s 2015 Symposium, This is Not a Drill: Confronting Legal Issues in the Wake of International Disasters, addressed current international disaster response topics. The event focused on an in-depth review of the ILC draft. Two additional panels addressed environmental effects and disaster assistance in the wake of various types of international disasters. Symposium participants included leading scholars and policy-makers from across the country and abroad.
Panel Descriptions
Dr. Eduardo Valencia Ospina
Dr. Eduardo Valencia-Ospina is the United Nations International Law Commission Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. As Special Rapporteur, Dr. Valencia-Ospina drafts articles codifying customary international law on states’ obligations to protect individuals in natural and other disasters. Dr. Valencia-Ospina will speak about his most recent report to the International Law Commission. The full text of the “Draft articles” has just been adopted in first reading and has been sent to UN member states for comment. Dr. Valencia-Ospina spoke about the goals and challenges of the project. He also discussed current theories on how to approach international disasters to maximize relief and efficiency and reduce costs.
International Law Commission Draft
In 2007, the ILC began work on a series of “Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters.” The draft articles aim to “facilitate an adequate and effective response to disasters that meets the essential needs of the persons concerned, with full respect for their rights” (article 2). Articles adopted thus far address the various responsibilities and rights of the affected state responding to a disaster situation, as well as the duties and rights of the providers of international assistance. They also refer to the conditions on which assistance must be provided, for example, respecting humanitarian principles and human rights obligations. Dr. Valencia-Ospina spoke on the ILC’s most recently revised draft, after which a panel discussion delved more deeply into ILC’s important work.
Open Call for Papers
Interested participants who submitted approved abstracts discussed their responses to our “call for papers.” “Mega-disasters” – whether sparked by nature or human activity – used to be once in a lifetime. Today, they are once in a news cycle. From Typhoon Haiyan in 2014, which uprooted over a million Filipinos, to the Great East Japan Earthquake and radiological emergency, which resulted in the evacuation of 300,000, 1,600 deaths, and massive water contamination, to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed over 220,000 people at a stroke, the international community is increasingly called to provide its support to “international disasters” around the world. But what are the rules of this game? Does an affected country have to accept outside help? Who is in charge in a massive response operation? What happens when the results of one nation’s disaster (such as nuclear radiation, a deadly disease, or a massive flux of people) spills over on others?
Disaster Assistance
Panelists discussed how international states have addressed disasters in the past and present, evaluating the relative success and failure of disaster assistance. Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the issue and offered proposed solutions for aid. These range from technological innovations for humanitarian assistance and the accompanying legal obstacles involved to international responsibility and liability that arises from disaster assistance missions.
Environmental Effects/Response to Fukushima
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which resulted in the evacuation of 300,000 people, 1600 related deaths, and massive water contamination, will take decades to clean up. It is particularly important to note that Fukushima was a manmade disaster – its direct causes were foreseeable and the effected nuclear facilities were incapable of withstanding the earthquake and tsunami that led to the facilities’ meltdown and the resultant nuclear disaster. Furthermore, the Japanese government and relevant regulatory oversight agencies failed to take the most basic safety measures, such as assessing the probability of damage, preparing for containing collateral damage from such a disaster and developing evacuation plans. Panelists discussed Fukushima in the broader context of international disasters. They also analyzed natural international disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes and proposals for how international states should respond.
Presenters
Keynote Speaker
Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, Special Rapporteur for the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, International Law Commission for the United Nations
ILC Draft Panel:
Moderator: David Fisher, Coordinator for the Disaster Law Programme, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Elizabeth Katchka, Chief of Staff for Legal Policy, Office of the Chief Counsel, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Department of Homeland Security
Call for Papers
Disaster Assistance/Response Panel/Right to Assistance:
Moderator: Ingrid Wuerth, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
Chris Rassi, Senior Legal Officer, International Federation of Red Cross
Michael Newton, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University of Law
Giulio Bartolini, Associate Professor of Law, Roma Tre University
Environmental Panel/ Responses after Fukushima:
Moderator: Jim Rossi, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
Emily Hammond, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
Lincoln Davies, Special Assistant Office of Faculty, Senior Vice President Academic Affairs, University of Utah College of Law
Dave Lochbaum, Director, Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists