symposium

[Doug Millison]

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/bjil/symposium2001.htm
Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium 2001: Fifty Years in the Making: World 
War II Reparation and Restitution Claims

Mission Statement

The Berkeley Journal of International Law (BJIL) is proud to announce 
the second Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium titled Fifty Years in the 
Making: World War II Reparation and Restitution Claims, which will be 
held at Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley on March 8th and 9th, 
2001. The Symposium will focus on claims
against both European and Asian actors, governmental as well as private.

The Second World War, including the years leading up to it, witnessed 
the most gruesome human rights violations in history. Millions died 
and an entire people came to the brink of extermination. Considering 
the magnitude of the horror that occurred, one can question whether 
reparations can ever vindicate the War's victims. However, the right 
of victims to strive for justice, even after the passage of a half of 
a century, is more difficult to deny.

The judgments of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals established 
important precedents by declaring that war criminals could not go 
unpunished. However, these tribunals failed to address the issue of 
reparations for millions of victims. Only the past decade witnessed 
the full emergence of claims for such reparations against both 
private and government actors. However, although these claims seek to 
bring justice to the victims and their families for what remain the 
most tragic human rights violations in history, numerous legal 
questions surrounding them remain open for discussion and debate.

The Symposium seeks to provide a forum for both scholarly and 
practical analysis of World War II reparation and restitution claims 
as they relate to international and transnational law. The Symposium 
will gather scholars, policy makers, and attorneys to discuss the 
issues and concerns that have arisen as a result of such various 
claims. Among these are slave labor and rape victims reparation 
claims, restitution claims for illegal takings, including stolen art, 
unpaid insurance policies, and dormant bank accounts. It is our hope 
that this dialogue will elicit important ideas on how to best 
approach these and similar issues in the future.