08:45 – 09:15       Welcome and registration

09:15 – 09:45       Opening statements

• Knut Dörmann, Head of Delegation, ICRC Delegation to the EU, NATO and the Kingdom of Belgium
• Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the ICRC
• Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe

09:45 – 10:45       Introductory session : does Humanity in war exist?

• John Swords, Director of the Office of Legal Affairs, NATO HQ
• Laurence Marion, Director for Legal Affairs, French Ministry of Armed Forces
• Olof Skoog, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Justice (video address)

10:45 – 11:15       Coffee break

11:15 – 12:45       Panel 1 : Stronger together: 75 years of IHL implementation

• Fortifying Humanity: promoting respect for IHL and translating the law into action – Anne Quintin, Head of the Legal Advisory Service, ICRC Geneva
• Yielding vigilance: monitoring compliance with IHL – A State’s perspective – Mirjam De Bruin, Senior Advisor, Dutch Public Prosecution Service – Center of Expertise Military Criminal Law
• Justice upheld, enforcing IHL and limiting impunity – Jonas Périlleux, Attaché, Belgian Ministry of Justice

Chaired by Frédéric Casier, Legal Adviser in International Humanitarian Law, Belgian Red Cross (Fr)

12:45 – 14:15       Lunch

14:15 – 15:45        Panel 2 : Giving means without giving up responsibilities: ensuring respect for IHL, from words to deeds

• Ensuring respect for IHL: the ins and outs of the obligation – Marten Zwanenburg, Professor, Netherlands Defence Academy and University of Amsterdam
• Ensuring respect for IHL: A role for human rights law and the UN human rights system? – Eric Mongelard, Human Rights Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Same obligation, same facts, different conclusions: why and how to overcome different interpretation of risks for IHL in arms exports? – Johanna Trittenbach, PhD Candidate, Leiden University

Chaired by Vaios Koutrouli, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles

15:45 – 16:15       Coffee break   

16:15 – 17:45       Panel 3 : Humanity in the age of new technologies

• AI-enabled decision-support systems (AI DSS) in the military decision-making process – Merel Ekelhof, Senior Advisor, Policy Directorate of the U.S. Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO)
• Information and cyber operations – Henning Lahmann, Assistant Professor, Leiden Law School
• Autonomous weapons systems – Laurent Gisel, Head of the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit, ICRC Geneva

Chaired by Jessica Dorsey, Assistant Professor, Utrecht University School of Law

18:30 – 20:30       Ceremony & reception/walking dinner at Bruges City Hall

09:00 – 9:15          Welcome

09:15 – 10:45        Panel 4 : Upholding Humanity in the conduct of hostilities: contemporary challenges to the application of the principle of proportionality

• Proportionality through an academic lens – Gloria Gaggioli, Professor, University of Geneva
• Military perspective on the proportionality assessment – Sigrid Redse Johansen, Senior Public Prosecutor, Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions’ Office & former Judge Advocate General for the Norwegian Armed Forces
• Operational view to civilian harm – Emily Tripp, Executive Director, Airwars

Chaired by Laurent Gisel, Head of the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit, ICRC Geneva

10:45 – 11:00        Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30        Panel 5 : Upholding Humanity during high-intensity armed conflicts: risks, challenges and opportunities

• Ensuring humane detention and protection of prisoners of war during high-intensity armed conflicts – Stéphane Lesnard, Captain, FR Navy, Head of Operational Law Branch, NATO SHAPE
• Respecting and protecting wounded, sick, shipwrecked combatants and civilians during hostilities at sea – Caroline Tuckett, Commander, UK Royal Navy
• “Total Defence”: Civilian and military coordination and cooperation during high-intensity armed conflicts – Helené Lackenbauer, Deputy Research Director, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI)

Chaired by Pauline Warnotte, Senior Legal Advisor, ICRC Delegation to the EU, NATO and the Kingdom of Belgium

12:30 – 12:45       Concluding remarks