When? : Thursday the 29th of Octobre from 14:30 to 15:30
Where? : Online

As part of the 49th Annual Congress of the Canadian Council on International Law (CCDI), the Société québécoise de droit international (SQDI) is organizing a webinar that will focus on the response international organizations are able to provide in widespread pandemics.

Are these organizations well equipped to coordinate the action of States facing such a situation? Are their rules lacking in this regard? What problems hinder their ability to react to a pandemic? We will examine the legal instruments and practices of three large sectoral international organizations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Based on the experience gained by these organizations from the COVID-19 crisis in their respective spheres, the panel will discuss aspects relevant to both the law of international organizations and international law.

Moderator

Charles-Emmanuel Côté, Université Laval, Faculty of Law

Speakers

Gabrielle Marceau, “World Trade Organisation”

Gabrielle Marceau, Ph.D., is a Senior Advisor at the Research Division (ERSD) of the WTO Secretariat since May 1, 2020. In September 1994, Ms. Marceau joined the GATT Secretariat and, for several years, she advised members of  the panels responsible for WTO disputes, members of the Office of the Director-General, the Secretariat as well as WTO Members on WTO-related matters. From September 2005 to January 2010, Ms. Marceau was Legal Advisor in the Cabinet of former WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, and from September 2016 to January 2017, she was Acting Director, responsible for the Legal Affairs Division. Gabrielle Marceau is also an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva; she has been a visiting professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement (HEID) in Geneva, at the Sorbonne in Paris, at Monash University in Melbourne, at the World Trade Institute in Bern and in many other institutions. Professor Marceau is also involved in several associations and groups promoting international (economic) law. She has published extensively on WTO law and international economic law. Before joining the GATT Secretariat, Gabrielle Marceau, a member of the Quebec Bar, practiced law in Quebec, Canada, mainly in labor law, insurance and civil law.

Anne-Marie La Rosa, “International Labour Organization”

A lawyer by training, Anne-Marie La Rosa has extensive professional experience with ten years of private practice as a lawyer in Canada and more than 25 years in international organizations including: the ILO (1994 – 2005 and 2019-), the ICTY (1996) and, the ICRC (2005-2018). At the ICRC, Anne-Marie was Legal Advisor and Senior Diplomatic Advisor, responsible for the ICRC’s relations with United Nations bodies in Geneva, and in particular the Human Rights Council. In 2018, the ICRC’s governance gave her the mandate to conceptualize and propose the axes around which the ICRC’s four-year project on the establishment of professional standards on missing persons should evolve. In 2019, Anne-Marie La Rosa joined the ILO again to act as operational manager for the global program on insurance and protection against accidents at work. She also teaches international criminal law, international social law, transitional justice and international humanitarian law in Europe and abroad and was recently appointed associate professor at the University of Sherbrooke. In 2016, she was chosen by the French government to be part of the high-level study mission on research and education on genocide and mass crimes. Anne-Marie La Rosa has written numerous books and articles, including a dictionary of international criminal law and a monograph on international criminal tribunals, both published by the Presses Universitaires de France. She also contributed to the new commentaries on the Geneva Conventions.

Geneviève Dufour, “World Health Organization”

Geneviève Dufour is a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke and director of the master’s program in law, international law and applied international politics. She has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2002 and is a specialist in international economic law and public international law. Her research focuses on issues relating to free trade law as well as the interactions between international trade, environmental law and human rights. She is president of the Société québécoise de droit international, member of the Orientation Council of the Francophone Network of International Law, member of the executive committee of the Revue québécoise de droit international, member of the board of directors of the Canadian Council on International Law and member of the editorial board of the Peruvian Review of International Law. She is also a member of the Directors Committee as well as Scientific Director of the Model International Civil Aviation Organization.

For more information, visit our Facebook event.