The International Nuremberg Principles Academy conducted its annual Nuremberg Summer Academy for Young Professionals in Nuremberg, from 6 to 17 August 2018. The 24 participants were selected from over 450 applications. They came from 19 countries and represented wide and diverse professional backgrounds. The participants engaged with the lecturers in interactive sessions which delved deep into the complex theoretical and practical issues faced by modern international criminal law (ICL), including its application by international tribunals, hybrid jurisdictions and national systems.
The lectures dealt with various areas of ICL such as the foundations, historical background, core crimes, the role of the prosecution and defense, the participation of victims and witnesses, investigation strategy, modes of liability, domestic prosecution of international crimes in Germany among other relevant evidentiary and procedural issues.
The participants also visited the historic Courtroom 600 where the Nuremberg Trials were held, the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site where they learned about dealing with the past in Germany.
The Nuremberg Summer Academy led to discussions and exchanges on individual lessons learned and experiences from the participants’ national and regional systems as well as on how ICL can contribute to the development of these systems.
Capacity building is an important part of the mandate of the Nuremberg Academy and the Nuremberg Summer Academy for Young Professionals is an established program of the Nuremberg Academy on an annual basis.
More information on the 2019 edition will be provided in the first quarter of the next year.