The Promise Institute
for Human Rights (Europe) News
Our 2025 Annual Report
The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA is pleased to present the 2025 Annual Report reflecting our work in both Los Angeles and Europe. We remain committed to uniting people around our shared mission to advance human rights and empower the next generations of lawyers, leaders, and advocates.
Rewriting Justice for a Burning Planet: ICC Deputy Prosecutor Khan on the Role of International Criminal Law
In a compelling keynote speech delivered at the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, Nazhat Shameem Khan explored the pivotal role international law must play in addressing the pressing ecological crises of our time. Her address emphasized the need for flexibility, innovation, and collective effort to adapt legal frameworks to the realities of environmental degradation and climate change.
Gaza and the Growing Momentum to Prosecute Environmental Crimes
UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe’s ED Kate Mackintosh spoke on Al Jazeera’s Newshour about the significance of the environmental and agricultural destruction in Gaza and how the environment is protected under international law. She highlighted the current proposal to add ecocide to the Rome Statute, and why environmental damage during wartime has not been prosecuted, despite the fact that there are laws in place to do so.