The aim of the conference "War and Peace" was to understand from a multidisciplinary perspective why Russia invaded the Ukraine. "Law and Economy” was held at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences on the Ciudad Real campus of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Inaugurated by the chancellor of this university, Julián Garde, one of the speakers at this conference, was a Ukrainian university professor who fled his country three days after the invasion began.
The Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) held the conference "War and Peace" on the Ciudad Real campus. "Law and Economy" was a talk aimed at raising awareness among the university community and the general public in particular about the origins and underlying reasons behind the conflict from a geopolitical, social, legal, economic and military perspective
“This does not just concern nurturing solidarity, but is also about understanding what has happened and why, as well as legally categorising it”, explained Luis Arroyo Zapatero professor of Criminal Law at the UCLM, who explained that this conference is intended to lead to a possible seminar at the beginning of September.
Arroyo, who has promoted the activity organised by the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, the UCLM Students Union and the Ciudad Real Regional Defence Office, stated that “what is happening is a criminal war of aggression and war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed”. He added “the important thing is how to prevent it from escalating and how to achieve this. However, to do so, one needs to understand the geopollitical situation”.
Beside him, the UCLM chancellor, Julián Garde, entrusted with inaugurating the conference, stressed the Spanish university system “does not want to stay out of the problem, but be part of the solution”.
Direct witness
Among the speakers at the conference was head of Criminal Law at the University of Odessa (Ukraine) Viacheslav Tuliakov, who fled the Ukraine on 27th of February, three days after Russia invaded. Today, he wished to share his experience with the audience. Before his speech, Tuliakov thanked the University of Castilla-La Mancha for having warmly welcomed him at this conference and explained that the message he wished to give the audience with his talk concerned “peace and friendship”.
In his own words "peace and law are tantamount to justice. Moreover,the purpose of Criminal Law, especially, is to see justice served in my country. That is what we are all hoping for in this situation", he added.
UCLM Communication Office Ciudad Real, 23rd of March 2022