The meetings of legal advisers were launched jointly by India, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and Sweden in 1989. In accordance with the principle of rotating presidency, this year’s meeting was chaired by Dr Konrad Marciniak, Director of the MFA Legal and Treaty Department. Prof. Michał Balcerzak of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń moderated one of the panels. The United Nations was represented at the event by Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.

This year’s edition featured four discussion panels, titled: Suspension/Termination of Treaties in Armed Conflicts and Other Emergency Situations; Universal Jurisdiction as an Instrument for Fighting Impunity in Crimes Against International Law; Weaponizing Food – International Armed Conflicts and Food Security; and Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – Outer Space and Maritime Areas.

The meeting was in line with the objectives of Poland’s foreign policy, in particular the consistent promotion of the rules-based international order and the provision of support to Ukraine, which has been the victim of Russia’s armed aggression. Most of the international law issues raised in the panels concerned, directly or indirectly, the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Spokesperson

 

Photo: Marta Kowalczyk /Polish PM to the UN in New York