Cultural Connections: The Importance of Understanding
Pictured above (Left to Right): Chris Bonnen, Nick Boles, Judge Chung Chang-ho, Hannah Sawdon, Bella Barricklow. Picture by Dr. Hope May.
Lessons Learned from the Final Week
In our fourth and final week in The Hague, our class visited the International Court of Justice, held a book launch for the first ever English interpretation of The Barbarization of the Sky by Bertha von Suttner, visited the YI Jun Peace Museum, went to the Korean Embassy in The Hague, attended the ICC’s ruling on South Africa’s interference with the Darfur case, met with Judge Chung Chang-ho, a presiding judge at the ICC, and had a reflection session on our time spent abroad as a class with Peace Palace Library Director, Jeroen Vervliet. During our reflection, each of us discussed what lesson most resonated with us from our time in The Hague.
Having the opportunity to meet with so many passionate individuals reminded me yet again how important it is to make connections with others. Dr. May’s connection with Director Vervliet and the Peace Palace allowed us to hold the book launch in the Historic Reading Room in the Peace Palace Library, her friendship with the owners of the Yi Jun Peace Museum gave us the opportunity to have a guided walkthrough of the museum, the connection made by her former student as a former intern at the Korean Embassy in The Hague established a connection between the Embassy and Central Michigan University Students which allowed us to meet with the Korean Ambassador to The Netherlands and his colleagues, and her familiarity with Judge Chung allowed us to have a personal and very informative meeting with him. Each of the opportunities our class was fortunate enough to have had in our final week in The Hague were due to the connections our professor, Hope May, has made throughout her professional and personal career. With that in perspective, it is clear just how crucial it is to branch out and make connections in one’s professional and personal life in order to create potential opportunities for oneself in the future. For the connections that I have made on this trip, I am incredibly grateful.
The Relevance to International Peace and Justice
Pictured above (Left to Right): Chris Bonnen, Bella Barricklow, Nick Boles, Hannah Sawdon. Picture by Dr. Hope May.
In the budding field of international criminal law, teamwork is essential to accomplishing any end. The International Criminal Court itself, established by the Rome Statute, relies on the cooperation of the 124 State Parties who are signatories to the statute to aide in bringing those charged with violating international criminal law to justice. Without the support and participation of the State Parties, the ICC lacks the means to bring those accused to trial, because they lack a police force of their own. The ICC can only be effective as a court if they can work cohesively with the State Parties and often local governments involved in their cases. Similarly, the State Parties often rely on the ICC to prosecute violations of international criminal law, such as war crimes, if they lack the means and proper judicial system to carry out the trials themselves, or if they are in a hostile environment where it is unsafe to hold the proceedings locally. Because of this co-dependency, it is essential that State Parties to the Rome Statute and the ICC work together in order for them to attain the goal of upholding international criminal law.
This relationship reflects a mutual respect and dependency between many nations and the Court, and depicts how important making connections is in the field of international law. Without one or the other, the ICC would fail to be effective in its goal. Because every country, culture, and person is embedded with a variety of differing values and ideals, those working in international law must be patient, understanding, and cooperative with their fellow colleagues, no matter their background. This same concept is applied in international law itself in the matter of complementarity, which governs the relationship between the iCC and national legal orders. If a State Party is able and willing to investigate and prosecute violations of international law in their own judicial systems, then the ICC will allow them to solve the matter themselves. However, if a state party is either unable or unwilling to take on the case, the ICC takes jurisdiction to aid the State Party in the prosecution without replacing the existing judicial system if it functions properly. This is an example of the partnership between the ICC and the State Parties to the Rome Statute that exists in order to uphold international criminal law.
Reflections Post-Hague
Pictured above: Turnip Rock in Port Austin, MI. Photo by Hannah Sawdon.
My Time Home: Upon arriving home, I had approximately two weeks to fit an Michigan entire summer in before I went back to work. In those two weeks I celebrated a friend’s 21st birthday in Holland, MI, visited friends in East Grand Rapids, kayaked to Turnip Rock in Port Austin, MI, hiked the Sleeping Bear Dunes, explored Traverse City, and ate tons of ice cream. Being home and back to familiar place and routine has been amazing, but after spending a month abroad, I can’t help but start to miss the places and people I became so familiar with during our trip.
The Acclimation Process: Immediately after leaving the airport the day I landed back in the US, I could tell that I was no longer in The Hague. Although I recognized the area and highways, it seemed so strange to be back after becoming acclimated to the overall atmosphere of The Hague, and Europe in general. Even seeing road and street signs in English initially caught me off guard, since it was something that had been so uncommon in The Hague. Once I arrived home, I felt relieved to be back but somehow out of place in my own home. It probably took nearly a week for me to begin to feel comfortable and normal in my own home again, and realizing that I was supposed to be here and not at the Skotel in The Hague. I was surprised to realize that I had to re-adapt to my home environment after becoming so comfortable in The Hague.
A Personal Lesson Learned: Over the month that our class spent abroad, we experienced numerous situations that helped us become more understanding, more patient, and better colleagues to each other as well as those we met through the course of our class. One very valuable personal lesson that I learned was to be more compassionate and empathic with others, both personally as well as professionally. While it is true that personal relationships are not required among colleagues, through the course I learned that attempting to learn another person’s point of view or the position that they’re currently in can create a greater level of understanding between two coworkers, cohorts, or friends, which benefits the relationship and produces better results professionally.
A Conceptual Lesson Learned: Conceptually speaking, I could list hundreds of tidbits of information I jotted down during the class or that I could recite from memory due to their significance. While abroad, Professor May would often ask us if an event had educational substance or if it was more of what she referred to as “a spectacle”. Though there were many instances of spectacle during our travels, the substantive knowledge we learned is invaluable and something one can only understand through experience.
One specific conceptual lesson that I learned in The Hague is the intricacy of the international law court system and the challenges they face in their practice. By meeting with sitting ICC Judge Chung, I learned how difficult it can be to guarantee appropriate time to both the defense and prosecution while also trying to complete cases as efficiently as possible. By learning first-hand how the international court system works, and by attending multiple court sessions held by the ICC, the MICT, and the ICJ, I was able to put into perspective how lengthy and meticulous trials could be. While most of the world is unaware of the ICC or what it does, I am grateful to have first-hand knowledge of the Court, to have met with a presiding judge, and to have an understanding of the process of international law.