News Archive
IU McKinney Students, Faculty, Attend ASIL Meeting in Washington, D.C.
04/26/2019
A contingent from IU McKinney attended the American Society of International Law (ASIL) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The event took place March 27-30. Professor Yvonne Dutton and students Thu Anh Doan, Alex Okafor, Daniel Neves Pereira, Lily Pham, and Garrett Welch took part in the gathering.
Doan attended a screening of the film, Prosecuting Evil, which tells the story of the last surviving Nuremburg prosecutor, Ben Ferencz, and outlines the history of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She also got to meet Ferencz, who attended the ASIL meeting.
Early in his legal career, Okafor worked in a law firm that had many international clients, and attending the conference helped him to broaden his thinking regarding his career path. In addition to meeting Ferencz, Okafor was able to meet Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, a judge of the ICC. Okafor began to ponder how the ICC impacts small countries, and has elected to pursue that question through research.
Pereira, who is a judge in his home country, Brazil, said he appreciated listening to international legal practitioners and scholars discuss their particular areas of expertise. Pereira is writing a thesis that relates environmental hazards with human rights violations in prisons.
Pham was able to take advantage of the networking opportunities the meeting afforded attendees. While there, she met people from Belgium, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and law students from throughout the world.
Welch chose to attend sessions during the meeting that pertained to specific areas he explored while a student, or that have a connection to the area of law he plans to pursue after he completes his legal studies. One session explored the various measures that nations can create via treaties and other components of international law to regulate behavior in so-called "lawless" areas such as Antarctica, the High-Seas, and space. He also attended a panel discussion on BREXIT and international law.
In the photo from left are J.D. student Garrett Welch, LL.M. student Alex Okafor, Professor Yvonne Dutton, and LL.M. students Lily Pham, Thu Anh Doan, and Daniel Pereira.
