Nazhat Shameem Khan: Lecture on intersectionality at the ICC in Münster!

Nazhat Shameem Khan: Lecture on intersectionality at the ICC in Münster!

On May 28, 2025, there is great excitement surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its deputy chief prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan. On June 5th she will give a lecture at the University of Münster at 6 p.m., which is open to the public. The lecture entitled “Intersectionality at the International Criminal Court” will take place at Münster Castle. Khan will discuss the importance of intersectionality and its impact on the Court's work. Intersectionality describes the overlap between different forms of discrimination, a topic of growing relevance in international law enforcement.

Khan, who previously served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji, Director of Public Prosecutions and President of the UN Human Rights Council, aims to show how this consideration of multiple forms of discrimination influences the understanding of victims' experiences and the internal workings of the ICC uni-muenster.de reported.

The context of international criminal justice

The ICC began its activity in 2002 with the entry into force of the Rome Statute, which was signed by 120 states. It deals with serious crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression-related offences. The jurisdiction of the ICC applies primarily to contracting states, but also to non-contracting states such as Libya and Ukraine, provided that they grant the court open procedural channels. This principle of complementarity means that the ICC only takes action when national states are unwilling or unable to prosecute such serious crimes, which is the case auswaertiges-amt.de is described in detail.

Khan was recently a keynote speaker at the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe conference, where she addressed the pressing environmental challenges facing the world. Their central arguments revolve around the need to further develop international laws to ensure accountability for major environmentally destructive acts in peacetime. Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have proposed enshrining ecocide as a fifth international crime in the Rome Statute, which would represent a significant step towards ecological justice, as promiseeurope.law.ucla.edu reported.

The call to action

Khan calls for a rethink and an ecologically centered legal situation that recognizes the intrinsic value of the environment. She points out that malign actors such as multinational corporations and powerful states are often excluded from individual criminal responsibility. The upcoming annual meeting of the ICC States Parties offers an opportunity to address these challenges and create effective accountability for ecological crises that affect both individual actors and powerful institutions.

The decisions made in The Hague could have far-reaching consequences for international law and efforts to save the Earth from ecological collapse. In her lecture at the University of Münster, Khan will not only shed light on the role of intersectionality, but also explain the ICC's responsibility in relation to changing global challenges in a broader context. This makes her lecture a key event for anyone interested in international jurisprudence and justice.