Nigel Davidson

Nigel Davidson graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2000 with a bachelor degree in law and arts. He was admitted to legal practice in the Australian Capital Territory in 2001, and assisted with the implementation of Australia’s obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court while working at the Australian Attorney-General’s Department. In 2003 he commenced working for the Australian Capital Territory Department of Justice and Community Safety, assisting with the implementation of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). In 2007 he moved to the Netherlands, where he provided legal assistance to judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. At the end of 2007, in Tanzania, he commenced work as a judge’s associate for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, returning to Australia in 2010 to complete his studies towards the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science from The Australian National University. He went back to the Rwanda Tribunal in 2011, working with the Prosecution Appeals section. Since April 2016, Nigel has been based in Hobart, where he has been pursuing research interests in international law as a university associate with the University of Tasmania. He has also been practising as a barrister with Michael Kirby Chambers since the end of August.

The Lion that Didn't Roar »

Can the Kimberley Process Stop the Blood Diamonds Trade?

Authored by: Nigel Davidson

Publication date: October 2016

In 2017 it will be Australia’s turn to chair the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), an international organisation set up to regulate the trade in diamonds. Diamonds are a symbol of love, purchased to celebrate marriage, and it is therefore deeply ironic that the diamond trade has become linked with warfare and human rights violations committed in African producer countries such as Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and, more recently, Zimbabwe and Angola. In their quest for diamonds, or by using diamonds to purchase weapons, armed groups in these countries have engaged in recruiting child soldiers, amputating limbs, and committing rape and murder. In response to the problem, the international community, non-governmental organisations and key industry players such as De Beers combined forces to create the Kimberley Process in 2002. The KP uses an export certificate system to distinguish the legitimate rough diamond trade from so-called ‘blood diamonds’, which are also known as ‘conflict diamonds’. This book considers the extent to which the KP, supported by other agencies at the international and national levels, has been effective in achieving its mandate. In so doing, it presents an original model derived from the domain of regulatory theory, the Dual Networked Pyramid, as a means of describing the operation of the system and suggesting possible improvements that might be made to it. Nigel Davidson spoke with 936 ABC Hobart about what Australia can do to help stop blood diamonds. Listen to the full interview here.

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