William Schabas

William Schabas
OC
Born
William Anthony Schabas

(1950-11-19) 19 November 1950 (age 73)
Cleveland, Ohio,[1] U.S.
EducationUniversity of Toronto (BA, MA)
University of Montreal (LLB, LLM, LLD)

William Anthony Schabas,[2] OC (born 19 November 1950[3]) is a Canadian academic specialising in international criminal and human rights law. He is professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and an internationally respected expert on human rights law, genocide and the death penalty.

Schabas also sits on the advisory board of the Israel Law Review,[4] the Journal of International Criminal Justice[5] and is editor-in-chief of Criminal Law Forum, the quarterly journal of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law.[6] He is a member of the board of trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights. Schabas served as one of seven commissioners on the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and as one of six commissioners on the Iran Tribunal Truth Commission from 18 to 22 June 2012.

In 2014, Schabas was appointed the head of a UN Committee investigating the role of Israel in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The appointment was criticized by Canada's Foreign Minister, John Baird, and the Geneva-based advocacy NGO UN Watch, on the basis of allegations that Schabas was anti-Israel, a charge he denied.[7][8] In February 2015 he resigned after an Israeli complaint[9] that he provided legal advice to the Palestine Liberation Organization in 2012. Schabas had been hired as a consultant to provide a legal analysis regarding the Palestinian bid for non-member observer status at the United Nations.[8][10] Schabas stated that he was resigning to stop the controversy from overshadowing the work of the Gaza inquiry, whose results were due in March.[11][12] Avigdor Lieberman hailed his resignation as an 'achievement for Israeli diplomacy'.[13]

In late 2019, Schabas defended the nation of Myanmar at the International Court of Justice in The Hague against charges of genocide towards its Rohingya population, brought by the republic of Gambia.[14]

  1. ^ Schabas at Leiden University faculty site.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ Schabas, William (27 April 2009). "curriculum vitae: William Schabas" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  4. ^ Israel Law Review, Editorial Board, [1] Cambridge Journals
  5. ^ Journal of International Criminal Justice, [2] Oxford Journals
  6. ^ Criminal Law Forum, [3] Universiteit Leiden
  7. ^ "UNHRC investigator Schabas Stays Mum on Hamas as "Terror Group"". The Jerusalem Post.
  8. ^ a b "William Schabas, Head of UN Gaza Commission, Dismisses Anti-Israel Charge". Cbc.ca. 11 August 2014. Under international law, William Schabas is obliged to recuse himself because his repeated calls to indict Israeli leaders obviously gives rise to actual bias or the appearance thereof
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "The Fatal Flaws of the Schabas Inquiry". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 20 December 2014. Indeed, earlier this year, the UN Human Rights Council rejected his application for the post of special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories
  11. ^ "Head of U.N. Inquiry into Gaza Conflict to Quit over Israeli Bias Claim". Reuters. 2 February 2015.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpost150204 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Herb Keinon, "Schabas takes parting shot at 'masters of ridiculous statements' Netanyahu, Liberman ," Jerusalem Post, 3 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Canadian lawyer William Schabas defends role advocating for Myanmar government". cbc.ca. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.