Professor Collett and Students Travel to UN Headquarters, International Law and Catholic Social Teaching
While many law students studied hypothetical situations to get ready for final exams this spring, the ten University of St. Thomas law students in Professor Teresa Collett’s International Law and Catholic Social Teaching course prepared for their final assignment by considering their real-life experience lobbying United Nation’s delegates at the UN Headquarters in New York City earlier in the semester. This experimental course was developed as part of the UST Prolife Advocacy Center’s commitment to creating curriculum to advance protection of human life from conception to natural death. Professor Collett observed that “The course grew out of my increasing awareness of an international effort to establish abortion as a basic human right. If that effort is successful, it would make reversing Roe v. Wade legally irrelevant.”
The ten students and Professor Collett traveled to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City in early March to attend the 53rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. This year’s theme was: “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care-giving in the context of HIV/AIDS.”
Once students arrived in New York, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) trained them to work with and lobby with representatives from different countries.
There were two expectations for the students while in New York. First, they were to be the eyes and ears of C-Fam, observing everything going on at the conference. Second, they were expected to lobby the delegates. Initially some students were more interested in observing the process, while others were excited about lobbying delegates. In the end, however, all students gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the value of both activities.
The meeting was attended by the one hundred and six nations that are members of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. At the start of the conference, each country gave a statement regarding their country’s primary goals, problems and issues in the context of HIV/AIDS and gender equality. The statements ranged from concern about women leaving the workforce to care for relatives plagued by HIV/AIDS to trafficking women and girls to providing mothers afflicted by HIV/AIDS with baby formula to avoid transmission of the disease through breastfeeding.
The focus of the conference was HIV and AIDS however, reproductive and family issues were recurring themes. “I was surprised that countries were using the conference to advocate for abortion services when the issue at hand was providing treatment for HIV and AIDS,” said class member Nicole Bonine ’09. Others were surprised too, and quickly realized the importance of their presence.
The goal of the Commission was to draft a document (Language of Agreed Conclusions) that outlined the goals and needs of each country represented, as it pertained to women, particularly regarding the issue of HIV/AIDS. What’s more, all of the countries had to unanimously agree on the language of the Agreed Conclusions for this goal to be realized. While the result was an aspirational, or non-binding, document the Agreed Conclusions could later become binding or could be used as evidence of customary international law, which in turn would force or pressure countries to change their laws to align with language in the document.
Class preparation for the conference was crucial in helping students lobby for their cause. Since a number of non-governmental organizations are also lobbying delegates it was important for everyone to be knowledgeable about the subject so they were able to alert delegates and allies to misleading or just plain false information being distributed to push various agendas.
Each morning, with the help of Piero Tozzi, executive vice president and general counsel of C-Fam, UST law students scrutinized language proposed for the document and would alert delegates from countries with pro-family and prolife legislation or constitutions of potentially problematic language. They also helped delegates from these countries draft and propose alternative language that would not compromise the domestic policies of the countries. Delegates from smaller or less powerful countries are often persuaded or even bullied by larger, more powerful countries into accepting language that contradicts their domestic legislation or national constitution.
For example, Pam Abbate, ‘09 and Bonine drafted a memo for delegate representing a Latin American country regarding problematic language proposed for the Agreed Conclusions. The country’s constitution is a pro-life document, providing a right to life for the unborn. Although the UN document would be non-binding it was imperative the country explicitly object to proposed language to avoid any possible future enforceability of parts of the Agreed Conclusions in efforts to require amendment of the country’s constitution.
As if rubbing elbows with international diplomats while lobbying for gender equality wasn’t enough, Professor Collett’s students also had the privilege of meeting with His Excellency Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. The meeting was arranged by Luke Swanepoel ’05, Legal Attache for the Holy See Mission to the United Nations. He was offered his present position at the conclusion of an internship with the mission arranged through the University of St. Thomas. Katie Jauert ’08 is currently interning with the Mission.
The Papal Nuncio hosted a lunch for the students and answered the perplexing questions about the role of the Church in the international legal order that Catholics sometimes struggle with, most of which arose from participating in the conference. The Archbishop stressed the Church’s commitment to promoting protection of human life in international law. He praised the University of St. Thomas for its commitment of integrating faith and reason in the study of law.
After meeting with the Papal Nuncio, UST students returned to the conference: supporting their allied delegates and providing them with strength during long hours of negotiations. Students, along with Professor Collett, were constantly doing factory-style research, sometimes until the early hours of the morning. Even when negotiations were closed to the students, they would be in the hallway researching and drafting memos and cheering on their allies during breaks. The support UST students and others provided helped small countries stand up to large and powerful nations like Australia and the United States.
Attending the conference gave students a rare opportunity to observe, learn and participate in the international process.
“The experience makes international politics seem much more accessible,” said Abbate. “I never knew there was a role for concerned citizens in international politics.” While Abbate doesn’t plan on a career lobbying UN delegates (she will be joining Fredrickson & Byron’s litigation department in January 2010) she said she would like to attend future conferences given the positive experience she had in March.
One of her classmates, however, just might seek an international position. After attending the conference and networking with delegates from different countries, An Nguyen was offered an internship in New York with the Fiji Mission to the UN. (Unfortunately she was unable to accept the position due to extenuating circumstances.)
At the end of the conference, UN delegates unanimously approved the document of Agreed Conclusions after two weeks of vigorous negotiation and debate. The document summarizing the common goals of all countries started out five pages long but by the end of the conference was about thirty pages in length.
Students were pleased, and perhaps a bit surprised, that the delegates were able to draft and approve Agreed Conclusions addressing the issues and goals regarding HIV/AIDS and gender equality, common to all countries – without compromising their diverse values and cultures.
“Despite their different focuses, the underlying needs were the same,” said Bonine. “AIDS is an epidemic every country is facing. It transcends national borders.”
