The Law Reform and International Law Bureau (DSRJDI) is going to hold two workshops on International Law on the upcoming April 14th and 15th, from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., in the Multi-Function room of the DSRJDI, located on Alameda Dr. Carlos D' Assumpção, n. ° 398, CNAC Building, 6th floor, as part of the 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field. These workshops will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation into Cantonese by Dr. Yee Sienho, Professor at the Changjiang Xuezhe and Chief of Experts, Institute for Research and International Law of the Wuhan University, China. The following topics will be discussed in the sessions: 1. The “Kadi” case of the European Court of Justice and the role of International Law in the European Law System and National Laws. a. In the “Kadi” case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that it has the power to conduct judicial review, in the light of the standards of the EC law fundamental rights, over EC/EU measures implementing binding resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The significance and implications of this holding have received a great deal of attention. This workshop aims at putting this issue in the wider context of law and policy regarding the place of international law in a national or similar legal system including that of the EU System and to argue that the ECJ judgment exhibits a robust form of “regime” (or national) autonomy. 2. The fourth function of the preparatory work of the “LaGrand” case in the International Court of Justice. a. Under customary international law as reflected in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the preparatory work of a treaty may serve to (1) confirm a meaning, (2) to remove an ambiguity, or (3) to cure an absurd result , each resulting from the application of the general rule of interpretation. This workshop aims at distilling from the “LaGrand” judgment of the International Court of Justice a fourth function of preparatory work, i.e., the “non-preclusion” of a position resulting from the application of the general rule of interpretation and to highlight the implications of this fourth function for litigators and treaty drafters. The 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, which incorporates these workshops, has as its main objective the “Consolidation of the Macao Legal System” and will take place until December 2012. The execution of this Programme is organised by the Law Reform and International Law Bureau, with the participation of several other MSAR's entities and public departments, namely, the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services, the Financial Services Bureau and the Institute of European Studies of Macao.
