Eminent Human Rights academic to speak at UCC | Jack Corbett

Professor Brian Burdekin, visiting Professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and International Law and a leading international Human Rights authority, is to address the UCC International Relations (IR) Society next Friday.Burdekin, who lectures in the postgraduate programme in the Melbourne University Law School, was Federal Human Rights Commissioner for Australia from 1986 to 1994 and was subsequently advisor to three successive United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights.He was one of the key figures responsible for drafting the UN criteria for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) known as the ‘Paris Principles’ and now advises governments on the creation of NHRIs across Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe.Burdekin will speak at the IR Society’s annual National Model United Nations (NatMUN) Conference.The Society will also be addressed by Lt. Gen. Pat Nash, recently retired from the Irish Defence Forces and commander of the high-profile EU military action in Chad and the Central African Republic.Nash will close NatMUN on the topic of peacekeeping and its continued relevance in international affairs.NatMUN, now in its 11th year, is a secondary schools’ competition run by the IR Society which is attended annually by over 200 students from across the country. It will take place in UCC next weekend and will see its opening and closing ceremonies addressed by these high calibre guest speakers.Burdekin will speak in WGB G05 at 4pm this Friday, and Nash will close the Conference in Boole 3 at 3pm on Sunday the 10th.Both addresses are public events and UCC students are invited to attend.