“Human Rights should be studied by heart not by mind.” said Dr Manoj Kumar Sinha, Director Indian Law Institute at the National Students’ Conference on International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law at the Institute of Law. He congtratulated the institute on conducting a dedicated course on IHL and RL and hosting 8 years of Paper Conference on IHL and RL. Nirma University hosted its annual flagship event in collaboration with the International Committee for the Red Cross and the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee on the theme “The Geneva Convention @ 70”. The event was aimed at addressing the marking of 70 years of the Geneva Conventions with a discussion that reflects on the successes and challenges encountered by these treaties that have been universally ratified. The Conference was presided by Dr Anuradha Saibaba, Head-IHL Department, Regional Delegation, South Asian Region, (ICRC, Delhi), Ragini Trakroo Zutshi, Associate Protection Officer (UNHCR, Delhi) and Dr Vikas Gandhi, Assistant Professor (GNLU, Gandhinagar).
Speaking on the interface between Maritime Law and Humanitarian Law, Capt. J.S. Gill, Former Additional Director General of Shipping and Nautical Adviser shared his experienced insights with the students. The eighth edition witnessed intensive deliberations on the contemporary issues of IHL and RL here in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Apart from Geneva Convention and the Global Compact of Refugee as major focal points for arguments and suggestions, issues such as Climate Change Refugees and Responsibility to Protect were also the subject of a major share of discussions. The ILNU National Conference hosting participations from as many as 50 law students and PhD Scholars across different universities, provides a platform for discussions and deliberations with experts, dedicated organizations and stakeholders in the relevant field. A compilation of research papers presented last year were also released.