Discussions on legal feminism and crimes of aggression at the VU Faculty of Law

Two open seminars-discussions were held on the 9th of November at the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University, where students of the faculty as well as anyone interested were invited to attend.

At 13:00, a seminar on feminism in law was held under the title “Legal feminism: from Supreme Court Justice R.B. Ginsburg to women’s rights in the contemporary world”.

The first part of the seminar was held in Lithuanian, followed by a presentation in English by the guest speaker, Prof. Dr. habil. The second part of the lecture was given by Prof. Agnieszka Bień-Kacała. Her research focuses on legal feminism in Poland and Hungary.

The seminar also included students from the VU Faculty of Law. In the beginning, the organizer of the event and moderator of the discussion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Agnė Juškevičiūtė-Vilienė, talked about women’s right to vote and its significance in history, while the students answered the moderator’s questions about the challenges women face in the legal system.

Ruth Beider Ginsburg, a prominent US lawyer, and notorious women’s rights advocate, and her contributions to legal feminism were discussed.

Another lecture that day focused on crimes of aggression and explored the challenges of prosecuting such crimes.

The speakers at this event were Dr Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, lecturer at the VU Faculty of Law, and Dr Marieke De Hoon, Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Prosecutor at the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The main example of a crime of aggression discussed in the lecture was Russia’s attack on Ukraine. According to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (1974), aggression (as a crime committed by a state) is defined as the use of armed force by one state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or independence of another state.

The lecture was held in English and was attended by students and guests from the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University.