Film, Reflections & Popcorn: Presumed Guilty

Time: 18:00-21:00. Are you interested in how a lack of judicial accountability and independence can deeply impact not just the lives of individuals but that of an entire country? Then join us for an evening of Film, Reflection & Popcorn at the Bergen Resource Center on September 13th! The documentary Presumed Guilty tells the compelling […]

Why can companies negotiate settlements in bribery cases?

Negotiated settlements have become the most common enforcement outcome for allegations of corruption involving corporations – which means, no court considers the question of guilt or determines the size of a penalty. Prominent examples of cases include Siemens, Halliburton, Vimpelcom and BAE. There are differing approaches across the world to the issue of out of […]

Implementing Child Rights in Norway

Time: 12:30 – 13:20 Results from book project edited by Malcolm Langford, Marit Skivenes and Karl Harald Søvig on implementation of the rights of the child in Norway. A special focus is on the rights of migrant children. On paper, the rights of migrant children seem well protected in Norway and elsewhere but in practice their […]

Migration management and how migrants manage

Time: 11:40-12:30 The phrase ‘migration management’ has come to replace ‘immigration control’ and puts a more positive spin on it. Borrowed from the corporate world, the term ‘management’ suggests control and efficiency, and glosses over the multiple conflicts that are often involved, within states, between states, and between states and migrants. Is it possible to […]

Can water rights bring water to the poor?

Time: 11:00-12:00 This session marks the launch of a new LawTransform research unit on “Natural Resources & Climate Lawfare”. Water is a vital, valuable and highly contested natural resource. In 2010 a UN resolution recognized the independent human right to water and sanitation. Has this new international Human Right strengthened marginalized peoples struggle to access […]

Land, Law & Inequality

Time: 09:50-10:50 Land remains a main source of livelihood and wealth – and of social conflict and inequality. This is exacerbated as population pressures, development needs and climate change increase the competition for scarce resources, often threatening already marginalized groups depending on the land. Property rights to land and natural resources have been fiercely contested […]

What decides how judges rule?

Venue: Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, UiB Time: 18:00-20:00 This session looks at what we know about what influences judges’ decisions. Focus is on cases concerning politically sensitive questions such as freedom of expression, or gendered issues such as rape. We also discuss the process of ‘constructing a victim’. What is a ‘good victim’ in […]

Constitutional Courts & Democracy: Latin America & beyond

Time: 14:30 – 15:30 Both in Latin America and Eastern Europe ambitious constitutional justice systems were established as part of the transitions from authoritarian rule in these regions in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these constitutional courts assumed roles exceeding their historical functions – and those of constitutional courts in advanced industrial democracies. A new […]

Transcontinental Perspectives on Trans-struggles

Trans* lawfare is increasingly visible – and diverse – on all continents. The nature of the battles, and their relationships to other LGBTIQ-struggles (lesbian, gay, bi- and intersex, queer) differ radically both between and within societies. Some – even highly homophobic – societies have a tradition of recognising (certain) transgender identities. Elsewhere trans* people are […]