Leicester Peace Talks 2018/19: The Negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference Relating to Prosecution of Kaiser Wilhelm

Wednesday, 30 January 2019, 4.30 pm (tea from 4.15), room TBC

Public Seminar:

The Trial of the Kaiser.

The Negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference Relating to Prosecution of Kaiser Wilhelm

Professor William Schabas (School of Law, Middlesex University)

Following the armistice, diplomats at the Paris Peace Conference debated whether to try Kaiser Wilhelm II, where to try him, and the crimes with which he might be charged. This provoked the first significant debate at the international level about the illegality of aggressive war. Although the delegates disagreed on whether criminal responsibility could be imposed for starting the First World War, there was general consensus that in the future the use of force to settle international disputes should be outlawed. The 1919 debates at the Peace Conference were therefore the prelude to the Kellogg Briand Pact of 1928, and the Charter of the United Nations, which leave no doubt about the prohibition of the use of force. Professor Schabas will discuss the developments at the Paris Peace Conference in light of his new book The Trial of the Kaiser (Oxford University Press 2018).

All welcome!

Attendance is free but please register if you can: celi@le.ac.uk

A campus map can be found at https://www.le.ac.uk/maps/documents/uol.pdf

Please check our website for up-to-date information before you travels.https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/law/research/celi/

For further information or to be informed about further events, please email us at celi@le.ac.uk.  

Information about all our events can be found at www.le.ac.uk/law/research/celi