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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

The Possibility Of Prosecuting Corporations For Climate Crimes Before The International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead To The Rome Statute?, Donna Minha Jan 2020

The Possibility Of Prosecuting Corporations For Climate Crimes Before The International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead To The Rome Statute?, Donna Minha

Michigan Journal of International Law

Due to rapid developments in climate science, scientists are now able to quantifiably link significant greenhouse gas emissions caused by major oil and gas corporations to specific climate impacts. These scientific advances have been accompanied by the publication of documents and studies suggesting that the oil and gas industry allegedly had knowledge of climate change as early as sixty years ago, and yet it actively worked to promote climate change denial and to delay governmental regulation on this matter. Though climate-related litigation is proceeding against the industry in different jurisdictions, proceedings brought against oil and gas corporations mainly focus on …


State-Enabled Crimes, Rebecca Hamilton Jan 2016

State-Enabled Crimes, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

International crimes are committed by individuals, but many – from genocide in Rwanda to torture at Abu Ghraib – would not have occurred without the integral role played by the State. This dual contribution, of individual and State, is intrinsic to the commission of what I term “State-Enabled Crimes.” Viewing international adjudication through the rubric of State-Enabled Crimes highlights a feature of the international judicial architecture that is typically taken for granted: its bifurcated structure. Notwithstanding the deep interrelationship between individual and State in the commission of State-Enabled Crimes, the international legal system adjudicates the responsibility of each under two …


After Atrocity: Optimizing Un Action Toward Accountability For Human Rights Abuses, Steven R. Ratner Oct 2015

After Atrocity: Optimizing Un Action Toward Accountability For Human Rights Abuses, Steven R. Ratner

Michigan Journal of International Law

It is a great honor for me to be here to deliver the John Humphrey Lecture. Humphrey led one of those lives within the UN that shaped what the organization has become today—as one of the first generation of UN civil servants, he was to human rights what Ralph Bunche was to peacekeeping, or Brian Urquhart to UN mediation. To read his diaries, so beautifully edited by John Hobbins, is to see a world that has in many ways vanished, a nearly entirely male club, mostly of Westerners, that hammered out new treaties and mechanisms over fine wine and cigars …


From Prosecutorial To Reparatory: A Valuable Post-Conflict Change Of Focus, Nancy A. Combs Apr 2015

From Prosecutorial To Reparatory: A Valuable Post-Conflict Change Of Focus, Nancy A. Combs

Michigan Journal of International Law

The ICC is well known in international legal circles. Indeed, everyone who knows anything about international law knows that the ICC is the acronym for the International Criminal Court, the body charged with prosecuting international crimes around the globe. Created in 2002, the ICC was intended to “put an end to impunity” for the perpetrators of international crimes” and to affirm “that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished.”1 Imagine, however, a world where the “ICC” instead was an acronym for the International Compensation Court. That is, what if the …


Inciting Genocide With Words, Richard A. Wilson Apr 2015

Inciting Genocide With Words, Richard A. Wilson

Michigan Journal of International Law

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, observers emphasized the role of media propaganda in inciting Rwandan Hutus to attack the Tutsi minority group, with one claiming that the primary tools of genocide were “the radio and the machete.” As a steady stream of commentators referred to “radio genocide” and “death by radio” and “the soundtrack to genocide,” a widespread consensus emerged that key responsibility for the genocide lay with the Rwandan media. Mathias Ruzindana, prosecution expert witness at the ICTR, supports this notion, writing, “In the case of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the effect of language was lethal . …


Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres Oct 2014

Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

In 2000, the international community formally launched the modern movement to combat human trafficking with the United Nations' adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). With the Trafficking Protocol, the international community created a new cornerstone upon which to build a global initiative to combat this modem form of slavery. As the first major international treaty on human trafficking in half a century, the Trafficking Protocol represented a significant step forward. One hundred forty-seven countries are now party to the …


The Two Faces Of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes, Jeffrey R. Boles Jun 2014

The Two Faces Of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes, Jeffrey R. Boles

Michigan Journal of International Law

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent …


Lost In Translation: The Accidental Origins Of Bond V. United States, Kevin L. Cope Apr 2014

Lost In Translation: The Accidental Origins Of Bond V. United States, Kevin L. Cope

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

One of the unusual features of cases about the constitutionality of federal statutes is that they are nearly always foreseeable. Even before the bill’s introduction in Congress, lawmakers are often aware that they are inviting a federal lawsuit. Anticipating a legal challenge, legislators and their staffs attempt to predict the courts’ views of the statute and adapt the bill accordingly. Generally speaking, the bigger the bill’s potential constitutional impact, the more foreseeable the resulting case. By this logic, jurists should have seen the constitutional issues in Bond v. United States from a mile away. In reality, they were foreseen by …


The Michigan Guidelines On The Exclusion Of International Criminals Jan 2013

The Michigan Guidelines On The Exclusion Of International Criminals

Michigan Journal of International Law

With a view to promoting a shared understanding of the proper approach to Article 1(F)(a) exclusion from refugee status, we have engaged in sustained collaborative study and reflection on relevant norms and state practice. Our research was debated and refined at the Sixth Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law, convened in March 2013 by the University of Michigan’s Program in Refugee and Asylum Law. These Guidelines are the product of that endeavor, and reflect the consensus of Colloquium participants on how decision makers can best ensure the application of Article 1(F)(a) in a manner that conforms to international legal …


International Law Weekend, American Branch Of The International Law Association Perspectives On Crimes Of Sexual Violence In International Law, Susana Sacouto Jan 2013

International Law Weekend, American Branch Of The International Law Association Perspectives On Crimes Of Sexual Violence In International Law, Susana Sacouto

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Infusing Due Process And The Principle Of Legality Into Contempt Proceedings Before The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia Ad The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Gwendolyn Stamper Jun 2011

Infusing Due Process And The Principle Of Legality Into Contempt Proceedings Before The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia Ad The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Gwendolyn Stamper

Michigan Law Review

Contempt proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda suffer from two procedural defects: the hearings run afoul of the principle of legality and fail to afford calibrated procedural protection for accused contemnors. First, this Note contends that these two tribunals properly rely on their inherent powers to codify procedural rules for contempt proceedings. However the tribunals' inherent power to prosecute contempt does not allow the courts to punish contemptuous conduct that has not been explicitly proscribed. Such a prosecution contravenes the principle of legality, which provides that criminal responsibility may …


Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres Jan 2011

Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Michigan Journal of International Law

In 2000, the international community formally launched the modern movement to combat human trafficking with the United Nations' adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). With the Trafficking Protocol, the international community created a new cornerstone upon which to build a global initiative to combat this modem form of slavery. As the first major international treaty on human trafficking in half a century, the Trafficking Protocol represented a significant step forward. One hundred forty-seven countries are now party to the …


Preventing, Implementing And Enforcing International Humanitarian Law, Juan E. Mendez Jan 2008

Preventing, Implementing And Enforcing International Humanitarian Law, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Symposium 2008: The United Nations Genocide Convention: A 60th Anniversary Commemoration: Keynote Address, Juan E. Mendez Jan 2008

Symposium 2008: The United Nations Genocide Convention: A 60th Anniversary Commemoration: Keynote Address, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Humanitarian Intervention: The New Missing Link In The Fight To Prevent Crimes Against Humanity And Genocide, Paul Williams Jan 2007

Humanitarian Intervention: The New Missing Link In The Fight To Prevent Crimes Against Humanity And Genocide, Paul Williams

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Inter-American System, Claudia Martin Jan 2004

Inter-American System, Claudia Martin

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Sexual Slavery And The International Criminal Court: Advancing International Law, Valerie Oosterveld Jan 2004

Sexual Slavery And The International Criminal Court: Advancing International Law, Valerie Oosterveld

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article explores the advancement of the international crime of sexual slavery, from its initial inclusion in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court through further development in the delineation of the ICC's Elements of Crime document. This Article begins with a detailed exploration of the negotiation process that led to the inclusion of the crime of sexual slavery in the Rome Statute. The first Section describes the decision to include both sexual slavery and enforced prostitution as crimes, as well as the debate on listing sexual slavery as a crime separate from that of enslavement. Next, the Section …


Continuing Crimes In The Rome Statute, Alan Nissel Jan 2004

Continuing Crimes In The Rome Statute, Alan Nissel

Michigan Journal of International Law

One of the most ambitious goals of the International Criminal Court is to balance the ideal of ending impunity with the legalistic protection of the accused from the arbitrary application of law. Accordingly, the main task of this Article will be to determine when continuing crimes will fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court according to the established primary and secondary sources of international law-i.e., within the rule of law.


The Inter-American Human Rights System: Activities From Late 2000 Through October 2002, Richard J. Wilson Jan 2003

The Inter-American Human Rights System: Activities From Late 2000 Through October 2002, Richard J. Wilson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Reconciling Amnesties With Universal Jurisdiction - A Reply To Mr. Phenyo Keiseng Rakate, Juan E. Mendez, Garth Meintjes Jan 2001

Reconciling Amnesties With Universal Jurisdiction - A Reply To Mr. Phenyo Keiseng Rakate, Juan E. Mendez, Garth Meintjes

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Grotius Repudiated: The American Objections To The International Criminal Court And The Commitment To International Law, Marcell David Jan 1999

Grotius Repudiated: The American Objections To The International Criminal Court And The Commitment To International Law, Marcell David

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article analyzes the American objections to the Statute. Part I describes the historical precedents for a permanent international criminal court and the drafting process undertaken. Part I concludes with a summary of the sections of the Statute which are implicated by the American objections. These statutory sections include the Statute's definitions of crimes, the role of the Prosecutor, the Court's anticipated relationship with the U.N. Security Council, and the Court's anticipated jurisdiction over states not party to the Statute. Part II selects three recent or current instances where the United States has used armed force, and analyzes the claims …


Redirecting The Debate Over Trafficking In Women: Definitions, Paradigms, And Contexts, Janie Chuang Jan 1998

Redirecting The Debate Over Trafficking In Women: Definitions, Paradigms, And Contexts, Janie Chuang

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Swapping Amnesty For Peace And The Duty To Prosecute Human Rights Crimes, Diane Orentlicher Jan 1997

Swapping Amnesty For Peace And The Duty To Prosecute Human Rights Crimes, Diane Orentlicher

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Prosecuting And Defending Violations Of Genocide And Humanitarian Law: The International Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Christopher L. Blakesley Jan 1994

Prosecuting And Defending Violations Of Genocide And Humanitarian Law: The International Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

A symposium discussing the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, established by the United Nations Security Council’s . Christopher L. Blakesley discussed the procedural aspects of the War Crimes Tribunal.


Addressing Gross Human Rights Abuses: Punishment And Victim Compensation, Diane Orentlicher Jan 1994

Addressing Gross Human Rights Abuses: Punishment And Victim Compensation, Diane Orentlicher

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Libya And The Aerial Incident At Lockerbie: What Lessons For International Extradition Law?, Christopher C. Joyner, Wayne P. Rothbaum Jan 1993

Libya And The Aerial Incident At Lockerbie: What Lessons For International Extradition Law?, Christopher C. Joyner, Wayne P. Rothbaum

Michigan Journal of International Law

Does concerted action taken by the U.N. Security Council against Libya bolster the international extradition process? Or do these resolutions represent little more than a new coat of legal paint on the same old political problems? This article seeks to answer these questions through an analysis of the nature of terrorism, the customary bases for jurisdiction and extradition, and the validity of Libya's refusal to surrender the Lockerbie suspects.


International Law Principles Governing The Extraterritorial Application Of Criminal Law, Christopher L. Blakesley Jan 1991

International Law Principles Governing The Extraterritorial Application Of Criminal Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on the differences and similarities between Germany and the United States on international principles of jurisdiction over extraterritorial crime.


Settling Accounts: The Duty To Prosecute Human Rights Violations Of A Prior Regime, Diane Orentlicher Jan 1991

Settling Accounts: The Duty To Prosecute Human Rights Violations Of A Prior Regime, Diane Orentlicher

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


The Practice Of Extradition From Antiquity To Modern France And The United States: A Brief History, Christopher L. Blakesley Jan 1981

The Practice Of Extradition From Antiquity To Modern France And The United States: A Brief History, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In order to understand the perceptions of extradition’s function and purpose in modern France and the United States, it is important to consider the evolution of thought regarding extradition. This article will focus on the history of extradition law as it has influenced contemporary law in the United States and France. The purpose of the article is to provide insight into the development of the “modern” extradition. Although the process has not always been executed by use of a treaty agreement, treaty authorized extraditions have existed since antiquity. Moreover, a treaty authorized extradition for common crimes, as opposed to political …


Toward An International System Of Drug Control, Louis Lessem Jan 1974

Toward An International System Of Drug Control, Louis Lessem

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

By any measure the ongoing explosion in the abuse and trafficking of illicit drugs must be viewed as alarming. The past few years have seen a dramatic upsurge in the use of heroin and other opiates, the re-emergence of cocaine as a popular drug, and expansion of the use and availability of synthetic and psychotropic substances, and, perhaps of greatest international concern, the penetration of illicit narcotics into markets hitherto relatively free from drug involvement. Western Europe, Canada, and most recently the Soviet Union1 have reported the growth of drug-consuming populations. At the same time, there has been an awakened …