The third “silent leges inter arma” conference organised by the Belgian Group under the Auspices of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War was held in Bruges from 17 September until 20 September 2019. This conference brought together no less than 95 participants from 30 different countries to address different legal issues affecting the armed forces. On 19 September, EUROMIL chaired a panel discussion on “Recent Developments of Human Rights Jurisprudence in relation to the Armed Forces”.

The conference started with a keynote speech from the Minister of Security and Interior, Pieter De Crem, who talked about “The Need for Borders in a EU without borders” where he focused on migration issues and how to deal with them once the Brexit is pronounced.

Then, the first panel addressed the “Challenge of Evidence Gathering in Conflict Areas and Prosecution of Foreign Fighters”. Among others, speakers discussed information exchange between military and law enforcement structures and and problems occurring with the military, such as overclassification of information about terrorist activities. In addition to being available, information should then be admissible in courts and properly used in prosecutions.

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