Seminars

This presentation will examine challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technology in the field of international criminal law. Specifically, we will discuss methodological adaptations required for international accountability institutions to survive, and even embrace, the contemporary “deluge” of digital data. Moving beyond surface-level legal debates over admissibility, we will discuss operational and methodological shifts in the field, including the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives and the danger of looking only through the lens of “tech.” By exploring the transition from traditional fact-finding to the management of "archives of archives," the presentation will address theoretical possibilities and pragmatic realities of evidence collection, preservation, analysis, and sharing in our digital age.

Prainha do Canto Verde is a small fishing community located on the Atlantic coast of Brazil’s Northeastern state of Ceará. It is one of 28 traditional communities recognized under the Brazilian constitution. This means, among other things, that its rights to communal land ownership are protected. Brazil’s 1988 constitution is provisional in relation to the rights of traditional communities, however. Its provisions must be affirmed or may be modified by congress if not protected in court. The community of Prainha do Canto Verde is presently under siege. Local and foreign investors are attempting to purchase properties of individual residents to build a resort catering to tourists. The community organization has asked members of the law school of the Federal University of Ceará to prepare a report on the history of land ownership in Brazil and of their specific history, legal and human rights, and struggle for legal protection. The presentation will elaborate on the report and discuss options available requesting input from seminar members.