The 2004 Specialization Course on 'International Cooperationin Penal Matters' was held in Siracusa from May 16-29. ISISC organized the event in conjunction with the International Association of Penal Law, France; University of Palermo, Italy; University of Nantes, France; DePaul University College of Law, International Human Rights Law Institute, USA; National University of Ireland, Galway, Irish Center for Human Rights, Ireland; University of Malta, Malta; University Del Pais Vasco, Vasco Institute of Criminology, Spain.

The Course was attended by sixty participants from all over the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia and the Middle East among recent law graduates, practitioners, academics or students, currently pursuing higher education or careers in the fields of international criminal law and international relations. Thirty-one different countries and twenty-seven universities were represented among the participants involved in the Specialization Course. The course was taught and attended by fourteen distinguished faculty members coming also from prominent international organizations as the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

The Specialization Course consisted of two parts, which included all day lecture sessions that were followed by several days of a moot court competition. At the end all the participants attended 18 working sessions for a total of 51 actual academic contact hours. The first part entailed a series of interactive lectures given by the attending faculty which involved subject matter spanning a number of cutting edge areas in the international legal arena. The lectures involved the following topics: introduction on the modalities of international cooperation in penal matters, domestic and extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction, extradition, surrender to international tribunals, mutual legal assistance, transfer of criminal proceedings, freezing and seizing of assets, recognition of foreign penal judgments, and controlling terrorism.

The second part of the course involved a moot court competition entitled ‘Sovereign Prerogative: the Case Concerning the Surrender of a Non-State Party National to the International Criminal Court’. As its name suggests, the theme of this moot court problem was based on a conflict between the vertical and horizontal systems in international criminal law. Specifically, the participants had to examine the divergence between extradition procedures and traditional notions of state sovereignty with duties of state parties to international tribunals. During this competition, the participants were divided into teams of three or four, and each team argued before the International Court of Justice for either the Applicant or Respondent. The oral arguments took place before panels of faculty member judges, and involved legal issues that may emerge in the future as the International Criminal Court begins to adjudicate cases. The moot court competition culminated with a semi-final round, which involved the top four teams, and the final competition that included the two winning teams from the semi-final round. Both of these rounds occurred before a panel of judges that consisted of participating faculty.

The winners of the final moot court competition were Respondent team:

-Mr Mohammed Helal (Egypt),

-Mr Zaal Margvelashvili (Georgia),

-Mr Nema Milaninia (USA), and

-Ms Heba Morayef (Egypt).

The Applicant team was composed by:

-Mr Francesco De Sanctis (Italy),

-Mr Alfio Fragalà (Italy),

-Ms Jasmine Moussa (Egypt), and

-Ms Romana Schweiger (Austria).

At the conclusion of the Specialization Course, there was an awards ceremony. Moot court competition awards were given to the winning Respondent team, and to the Applicant runners up. Ms Jasmine Moussa (Egypt) was awarded with the best overall oralist award, Mr Gaston Gramajo Chapman (Argentina) received the course fellowship award, and also MrAlfio Fragalà (Italy) received a special award. Moreover, every participant in the Specialization Course received a certificate in international criminal law.