News

Wolters Kluwer Polska Joins Foundation Sunflowers as Official Partner

We are honoured and proud to announce that Wolters Kluwer Polska has become an official Partner of the Foundation Sunflowers. 

As a provider of professional legal information and technology, Wolters Kluwer supports the Foundation and the Project Sunflowers, which it runs, by contributing to raising public awareness of the legal and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, and joins the Foundation’s efforts in collecting information about evidence of crimes committed in Ukraine and victims of the war.   
News

Professor Piotr Hofmański Appointed Ambassador of the Foundation Sunflowers

We are extremely pleased and proud to announce that Professor Piotr Hofmański, who has served as a judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the last 9 years (2015-2024), where he was its president for the last 3 years (2021-2024), has become an Ambassador of the Foundation Sunflowers. This unique status is granted by the Foundation’s Council to a person who enjoys widespread authority, identifies with the Foundation’s values and supports the Foundation in its mission.

‘Accepting that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, the drafters of the Rome Statute aimed to eliminate impunity by providing for a system whereby eventual accountability would be secured collectively by the international community’ – Piotr Hofmanski.

News

Foundation Sunflowers joins NGO-ICC Roundtable in The Hague to promote ICC awareness

Ewa Hofmańska, President of the Foundation Sunflowers participates in the week-long NGO-ICC Roundtable in The Hague. Civil society organizations – affiliated with the Coalition for the ICC, play a key role in promoting the International Criminal Court, are important intermediaries of the Court, helping to raise awareness of the ICC worldwide, advocating for universal acceptance of the Rome Statute. 

Foundation Sunflowers was granted membership to the Coalition for the ICC in October 2023. 

A session on the situation in Ukraine is scheduled for the final day (28 June) of the Roundtable. 
News

Meeting in the National Prosecutor’s Office of Poland

A meeting between prosecutors investigating Russian aggression against Ukraine and representatives of civil society organizations was held at the headquarters of the National Prosecutor’s Office on June 11 in Warsaw. 

On the organization’s side, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the Pilecki Institute, the Sunflowers Project, Opora in Poland and the Clooney Foundation.

At the meeting, the two-year cooperation to date was discussed, as well as the possibility of future support of the investigation team by representatives of the civic community. Letter from the representative of civil society organizations attached.

Read more: https://www.gov.pl/web/prokuratura-krajowa/prokuratorzy-prowadzacy-sledztwo-dotyczace-rosyjskiej-agresji-na-ukraine-spotkali-sie-z-przedstawicielami-organizacji-pozarzadowych 

News

Hanna Kuczynska discussing ICC’s provisional arrest requests on Radio 357

Professor Hanna Kuczynska, a member of the Board of Directors of Project Sunflowers, was a guest on Radio 357.

In the conversation, which will be hosted by Michal Zakowski, she spoke, among other things, about the significance of the statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the request for the issuance of provisional arrests against the leaders of Hamas and Israel.

Listen to the whole program: https://link.radio357.pl/twoje357/audycje/61454/488591

24.06 webinar
Webinar

State immunity and immunities of State officials in times of transformation

Join us, virtually, on the 24th of June 2024, Monday, at 6:00 PM CET, for the zoom webinar entitled: “State immunity and immunities of State officials in times of transformation”.

The topic will be presented by Professor Anna Wyrozumska, who is professor of international law and European Union law, University of Lodz, Poland and the President of the Legal Advisory Committee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former member of the Polish delegation at the Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.

The second speaker will be Professor Magdalena Matusiak-Frącczak, habilitated doctor, attorney, Assistant Professor (University of Lodz, Poland), visiting professor (Chandigarh University, India).

The webinar focuses on various types of exemptions that come from international law from the jurisdiction or enforcement of the state law, i.e. immunities available to states, persons or international organizations. Immunities are available to different entities and have different scope and effects. The institution of immunities, in particular state immunity, finds its justification in the basic principles of the international law system. At the same time, immunities set the framework for mutual relations between states in the exercise of jurisdiction. Contemporary changes, such as strengthening the position of the individual, in particular the protection of his/her fundamental rights, or the increasingly frequent entry of the state into private law relations, make the subject of this study one of the most widely discussed issues in the doctrine of international law. The question therefore arises to what extent immunities must remain inviolable in the interest of maintaining international order and ensuring the efficient functioning of a state in international relations, and to what extent they should be limited, e.g. in the interest of protecting the individual, including the protection of his/her fundamental rights.

The meeting will be moderated by Professor Aleksandra Mężykowska, who is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and also a Board Member of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and legal expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The webinar will be conducted in English.

The webinar is a joint event of the Project Sunflowers and the EU Pravo-Justice Project.

Join us here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0OAVgzXoTPq3BkpmD87uTw#/registration

 

News

Interview with Ewa Hofmańska in the The National Bar Council of Attorneys-at-Law magazine

Ewa Hofmańska was interview in the latest The National Bar Council of Attorneys-at-Law magazine in Poland.

In the legal world, by the legal community and NGOs, the Sunflowers Project, which you manage, is extremely well regarded. What is the mission of this project?
“The primary mission of the project is to support international and domestic justice bodies set up to prosecute and try international law crimes committed in Ukraine, to support representatives of those harmed by the ongoing war there, and to support institutions that will prepare reparation programs for survivors in the future. In addition, our mission is to raise the level of awareness of the international community about international criminal law, humanitarian law, migration law, human rights and the rights of those affected by armed conflict.”

Read more: https://kirp.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/radca_prawny_nr_213_net.pdf

News

Project Sunflowers experts at the „Contemporary Challenges of International Criminal Justice” Conference

The Kraków Center for International Criminal Justice together with the Department of Criminal Procedure at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is organising a conference on Contemporary Challenges of International Criminal Justice!

We are proud that so many Project Sunflowers experts and team members will be attending this event! More information https://www.law.uj.edu.pl/kpk/strona/conference-contemporary-challenges-of-international-criminal-justice-1-6-2024/

Save the date: June 1, 2024, and the venue: The Larisch Palace, Bracka 12, Kraków, Poland

News

Professor Wiliński represented Foundation Sunflowers at the III Legal Forum

We are truly pleased to announce that Professor Paweł Wiliński, Chairman of the Board of the Sunflowers Foundation, represented the Foundation at the III Legal Forum, which started today, 23 May 2024, in Warsaw, Poland. Professor Wiliński took part in a panel on Confiscation of the Russian assets abroad as a fair mechanism of compensation for the damage to business and citizens of Ukraine. 

The Legal Forum EU-Eastern Partnership is a modern communication platform created in 2022 as a new platform for constructive dialogue between law firm partners, heads of legal departments of companies and specialists in business development, marketing and promotion of legal services from Europe, the Eastern Partnership and Central Asia and the Caucasus. 

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Webinar

In Defence of an Internationalised Tribunal

Join us, virtually, on the 21st of May 2024, Tuesday, at 6:00 PM CET, for the a zoom webinar entitled: In Defence of an Internationalised Tribunal”.

The topic will be presented by Professor Kevin Jon Heller, who is Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, currently serving as Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on War Crimes.

The webinar focuses on the challenges and opportunities of prosecuting core crimes by an internationalized tribunal and the speaker will be considering various problems (pro and contra such a tribunal) arising from accepting the statement that the international society should grant jurisdiction arising under national criminal codes and general international law to a dedicated international criminal tribunal that should be established to investigate and prosecute individuals who have committed the crime of aggression in respect of the territory of Ukraine, including those who have materially influenced or shaped the commission of that crime.

The meeting will be moderated by Professor Hanna Kuczyńska, Member of the Executive Board of Sunflowers Foundation and professor at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The webinar will be conducted in English and simultaneous translations into Ukrainian will be available.

Here is the link to registration:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T0-nxoVSTUCZmHIM7DhOgw#/registration

The webinar is a joint event of the Project Sunflowers and the EU Pravo-Justice Project.