On May 25 this year, a meeting with students entitled “Justice in Wartime” was held at the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. During the event, participants watched the documentary “In Your Name – Justice in Wartime”, which presents how the Ukrainian justice system operates during wartime.

The screening was followed by a discussion featuring the Consul General of Ukraine in Poznań, Mr. Serhii Miniailo, Supreme Court Judge Prof. Paweł Wiliński, and Dr. Andriy Kosylo, Member of the Board of the Sunflowers Foundation. The discussion addressed important issues related to the functioning of the justice system during war, as well as bringing perpetrators of war crimes and other international crimes to justice.

The event was another meeting in a series of student discussions organized by the Sunflowers Foundation, the EU Pravo-Justice Project, and ELSA Poland. The partner of the event was the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The media partner was Prawo.pl. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland, Mr. Vasyl Bodnar.

12 maja w Warszawie Fundacja Słoneczniki zainaugurowała nową serię spotkań ze studentami. Wydarzenie poświęcone było wyzwaniom związanym z dokumentowaniem i ściganiem zbrodni międzynarodowych popełnionych podczas wojny na Ukrainie, a także roli prawników i środowisk akademickich we wspieraniu działań na rzecz sprawiedliwości i pociągnięcia sprawców do odpowiedzialności.

W dyskusji wzięli udział Olha Sribniak z finansowanej przez UE organizacji Pravo-Justice oraz profesor Paweł Wiliński, sędzia Sądu Najwyższego i przewodniczący Rady Fundacji Słoneczniki. Spotkanie było również okazją do omówienia zaangażowania studentów i młodych prawników w inicjatywy wspierające sprawiedliwość i pociąganie do odpowiedzialności za zbrodnie wojenne.

“Justice in Times of War: From Documentation to Accountability” is a series of academic events organized by the Foundation Sunflowers and hosted at law faculties across Poland. The initiative is designed for law students and aims to explore the challenges faced by the justice system in situations of armed conflict, with a particular focus on the experience of Ukraine. 

Each event features a screening of a documentary film portraying the work of Ukrainian judges during wartime, offering a unique insight into the functioning of the judiciary under extreme conditions, including the documentation and adjudication of international crimes.  

The screening is followed by a moderated discussion addressing key issues such as the need to support the Ukrainian justice system, the ethical responsibilities of judges in times of war, and the role of the international legal community in ensuring accountability for war crimes. The events are interactive and provide a platform for dialogue between students and experts. 

The series is held under the honorary patronage of the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Mr. Vasyl Bodnar, highlighting the importance and timeliness of the initiative. Co-organizers of the series of events are the EU Project Pravo-Justice (producer of the documentary), Wolters Kluwer Polska and European Law Students’ Association ELSA-Poland. The media patron of the initiative is Prawo.pl. 

Each meeting concludes with a brief presentation of the Project’s Sunflowers activities as an example of a legal initiative supporting international justice and raising awareness of legal responses to armed conflict. 

Join us, virtually, on the 28th of February 2025, Friday, at 6:00 PM CET, for the webinar entitled: “Universality Of The Rome Statute. Lack of Big Players And Its Impact On The System – Lessons To Be Learned From Achievements And Failures Of 25 Years Of Global Ratification Campaign”.

The topic will be presented by David Donat Cattin, Ph.D., who is is an Adjunct Associate Professor of International Law and Climate Change & Human Rights at the Center for Global Affairs of New York University (NYU). He is a Research Fellow at the Center for International Law Research and Policy (CILRAP) in Florence, Italy, and a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Global Security. He is a member of the advisory councils of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression (GIPA) and the International Center for Multi-Generational Legacies of Trauma (ICMGLT). Dr. Donat Cattin’s academic work has been running parallel to a career in the civil society/non-profit sector, which led to his election for three consecutive terms as Secretary-General (2014–22) of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), the largest international network of individual lawmakers from all regions of the world, where he had been Senior Director, Legal Advisor, and European Coordinator (2000–13). At PGA, he informed, sensitized, and helped to mobilize parliamentarians who promoted the universality and effectiveness of the Rome Statute system in more than 120 countries, contributing to the ratification process of 78 out of the current 125 States Parties to the Statute while assisting the domestic implementing legislation processes of 37 States. He recently joined the Scientific Committee of the Global Initiative Against Humanity (GIAI), a global civil society consortium for justice supported by the European Union.

Register here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6yYO676_0keekOvSQm286wHQx-xhTYBDoHNptVMRufpURVJPUlBSREg0U0ZQWUY1WTZRWTFQRktXMy4u