International Court of Justice

We will be allowing laptops in ICJ, but cellphones and all other electronics will have to be away at all times. Also, you should be aware that the only internet on campus is only available to CAL students (as in, you can’t log on without a student ID and password). Finally, please bring your own flashdrives–we probably will not be providing them.

So I know we haven’t posted very much material open for discussion yet, but as the conference approaches you should definitely try to start discussing with us and your fellow delegates! It will both count towards your participation score and help me get to know you better, which can only be a good thing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/08/15/DI2008081502199.html

Here’s an interesting interview you guys might like to read–it provides a good background on the Georgian opinion of the war.

Hello Delegates of BMUN 58!

Berkeley’s 58th Model United Nations conference is quickly approaching! My name is Donovan McNiff and I will be serving as a vice chair for ICJ at the upcoming BMUN conference.  I am a first-year majoring in German and Political Economy with an emphasis on globalization (I realize it’s rather nondescript).  Also, I will be the only first year BMUNer on ICJ at this conference.  My hobbies include hurdle-running, gorging myself portentously, reading and learning.  I realize you only have this short blurbs to rely on for information about us if you feel at all awkward, so I offer up the most clandestine sliver of my being.  One day, I hope the world shall become my canvas and diplomacy, my medium.

Should you have any questions, any at all, please contact any or all of us, because that is why we are here.  Best of luck and I look forward to meeting you all soon!

My best,

Donovan

P.S. Just kidding about the hyper-dramatization.

Hi Delegates,

My name is Byron Chan and I am a 3rd year history major. I was involved in ICC at last year’s conference and I am really looking forward to another exciting session. In ICJ this year, I am going to be the bailiff which means I’ll be the one keeping the flow of the trial going, while making sure all of the delegates and witnesses stay under control. I’m really looking forward to meeting all of you and I hope you are all prepared for a great time in ICJ!

-Byron Chan

In case you guys are wondering, and many of you may have already guessed, the flow of ICJ is nothing like the standard flow of committee. For those of you who haven’t participated in an ICJ simulation before, here’s a quick overview of what’s going to happen.

You will all be representing the justices of the ICJ, each of which is appointed by a country, though you are impartial. Though both Russia and Georgia will have representative justices, the are both (theoretically) as impartial as the rest. (In reality this isn’t the case, but their job is not to come in and argue on the behalf of their country). We, the chairs, will represent the prosecution and the defense, while I will be presiding over the court as the head justice (and thus able to control the flow of committee). Friday we will begin hearing opening statements, and then we’ll hear witness testimonies. There will be a direct and a cross, then an opportunity for you, the justices, to ask the witness questions. On Saturday we will hear closing statements, and then go into deliberations. This is where you will be writing your ruling (and probably some dissenting opinions, and though there will be a fair amount of pop-corn style debate, there will also be a lot of unmoderated caucusing, as I think you’ll find this will be the easiest way to write your rulings, and with such a small group, it won’t be difficult to hear the opinions of every justice. Please don’t hesitate to ask your chairs for help either, as we’ve all been spending a lot of time with this case.

Hope this clears some things up, and I will post some guidelines on how to write a ruling shortly.

cheers,
Sarah

If you have any general questions about ICJ, feel free to ask them here. In the interest of fairness, any general emails about ICJ I’m going to answer publicly on the blog, but if you have personal questions please feel free to email me instead.

Cheers,
Sarah

Hello all you ICJ delegates out there!

My name is Kalis Kim and I am one of your vice-chairs.  I am a senior that has been involved in BMUN for 4 years, though this is my first year in ICJ.  I have also chaired conferences in LA and China.  My majors are political science and classics with a minor in art history.  I studied abroad in Fall of 2008 in Rome, Italy.  I am also the USG of internal relations, meaning that I event plan for our wonderful organization.  In my free time I enjoy music (pretty much all genres but metal), musical theater, travel, baking (cupcakes are my favorite) and napping.  Feel free to contact me with any questions and I look forward to meeting you all soon!

Best,

Kalis Kim

Hello Delegates,

My name is Brian Mounmanivong. I am a third year Computer Science and Cognitive Science double major (really all kinds of people enjoy MUN). This is my second year in BMUN and also second year doing an ICC/ICJ run. I also manage the BMUN website (hurray for the new favicon when you bookmark bmun.net Test it out ^.^)

I look forward to seeing all of you at BMUN 58!

-bmoun in bmun

Most of you probably found the following on your own, but to save you some time, here are some useful links for you:

1. The ICJ court case
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=1&code=GR&case=140&k=4d

2. CERD
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm

And more to come!

Sarah