Conference: "The Role of National and International Courts in Health Crisis Management"

This part of the Conference is aimed at presenting some of the results of the COVID19 Litigation Project, coordinated by the University of Trento with the financial support of WHO, the participation of eight project partners in different world regions, and the contribution of a wide network of judges and scholars around the globe.

The Project revolves around the COVID19 Litigation Database, collecting more than 1500 (around 2000) cases decided in all continents’ courts in the field of fundamental rights affected by public health measures during the COVID19 pandemic. It is aimed to provide policy makers, judges and scholars with a tool for comparative legal analysis.  

The panels will involve scholars, scientists, representatives of international institutions, supreme courts judges, to discuss whether and how the rule of law and due protection of fundamental rights shall forge public choices and policy decision-making in times of health crises and to what extent judicial decisions may contribute to such balancing.

The interplay between domestic and international laws in pandemic risk management, the role of judicial review in the protection of fundamental rights, the impact of health crises on the most vulnerable ones, will be among the topics addressed during this part of the Conference and provoking an interdisciplinary and inter-professional debate. 

Programme

Welcome Addresses  (9.00 – 9.15)

Rector of the University of Trento
Dean of the Faculty of Law 

Keynote Speech (9.15 – 10.15)

Judicial Protection in the Pandemic and Post pandemic Era: the Role of the European Court of Justice

Laila Medina (Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union)

Panel 1 (10.15 – 11.45): The COVID19 Litigation Project: The Way Forward

Chair: Benn McGrady (World Health Organization)

Project Presentation: Paola Iamiceli, The COVID-19 Litigation Project 

Discussants:
Matej Accetto (President of the Slovenian Constitutional Court)
Madan Lokur (Supreme Court of Fiji)

Q&A (11.30 – 11.45)

Coffee break (11.45 – 12.00)

Panel 2 (12.00 – 13.30): The Interplay between Domestic and International Laws in Pandemic Risk Management

Chair: Edith Zeller (Administrative Court of Vienna and President of the Association of European Administrative Judges)Speakers:
Gian Luca Burci (Geneva Graduate Institute)
Katherine Ginsbach (Georgetown University)
Pablo Villareal (Berlin Institute for International and Security Affairs)
Tina Cockburn (Queensland University of Technology)
Anton Gao (National Tsing Hua University)

Q&A (13.00 – 13.30)

Lunch break (13.30 – 15.00)

Panel 3 (15 – 16.30): The Role of National and International Courts in Time of Crisis: Judicial Review and the Protection of Fundamental Rights

Chair: Fabrizio Cafaggi (Italian Council of State)

Speakers:
Justice Vincent Hoong (Supreme Court of Singapore) 
Edith Zeller (Administrative Court of Vienna and President of the Association of European Administrative Judges)
Ittai bar Siman tov (Bar-Ilan University) 

Q&A (16.00 – 16.30)

Coffee break (16.30 – 16.45)

Panel 4 (16.45 – 18.30): Public Health and Fundamental Rights between Old and New Vulnerabilities: Is a Conciliation Possible? 

Chair: Daniel Hougendolber (World Health Organisation)

Speakers:
Damian Chalmers (National University of Singapore) 
Natalia Rueda (Universidad Externado de Colombia)
Bostjan Zalar (High Court Judge at the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia)
Tania Sebastian (Vellore Institute of Technology)
Emmanuel Kasimbazi (Makerere University)

Q&A (18.00 – 18.30)