Criminal Law Commons^™

The Icc Should Not Encourage Occupation, Uri Weiss

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Litigating Genocide: A Consideration Of The Criminal Court In Light Of The German Jew's Legal Response To Nazi Persecution, 1933-1941, Jody M. Prescott

Maine Law Review

After years of negotiation, a majority of the nations of the world have agreed to create an International Criminal Court. It will be given jurisdiction over three core types of offenses: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. With regard to war crimes, however, nations that join the court may take advantage of an “opt-out” procedure, whereby the court's jurisdiction over these offenses may be rejected for seven years after the court comes into existence. For various reasons, a small number of nations, including the United States, have refused to sign the treaty creating the court. While heralded as a …

The Persuasive Authority Of Internationalized Criminal Tribunals, Elena Baylis

Articles

After a period in which it seemed as though hybrid criminal tribunals were waning, proposals for such tribunals are proliferating again. The recent success of the Extraordinary African Chambers in trying Hisséne Habré highlights the resurgent trend toward ad hoc internationalized courts and chambers to try cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The international community could make strategic choices in designing this new generation of tribunals to maximize their effectiveness. One way that international courts spread their influence is through their persuasive authority. Even if their decisions are not binding on the concerned national courts, by persuading …

Divided We Fall: How The International Criminal Court Can Promote Compliance With International Law By Working With Regional Courts, Tatiana E. Sainati

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Kenya's 2007 presidential elections inflamed deep-seeded ethnic tensions in the country, sparking violence that left thousands dead and more than half-a-million civilians displaced. After the bloodshed, Kenya failed to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for the atrocities. The Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into the Kenyan situation, acting under his statutory authority, and eventually brought charges against six high-ranking Kenyans, including President Kenyatta. After years of investigations, the Prosecutor ultimately withdrew the case against the Kenyan President--a potentially fatal failure heralded by some as the death knell of the ICC.

During the course of …

Response: The Icc, Pre-Existing Jurisdictional Treaty Regimes, And The Limits Of The Nemo Dat Quod Non Habet Doctrine--A Reply To Michael Newton, Carsten Stahn

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

It is a pleasure and a privilege to provide a few reflections on Michael Newton's thought-provoking essay on "How the ICC Threatens Treaty Norms." His article marks an important piece of scholarship. It reflects significant concerns about the reach and function of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that merit further attention and explanation in ICC practice. Newton makes a provocative argument. He argues that the ICC might undermine sovereign law enforcement efforts and exceed its powers if it exercises jurisdiction over American forces in Afghanistan or Israeli offenses in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. This argument is not …

An International Crimes Court: Further Tales Of The King Of Corinth, Jose A. Baez

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Beyond "De-Nile" - The United Nations' Genocide Problem In Darfur, William Reisinger

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

"T.I.A" - This Is Africa - So Why The Icc?, Fletcher Miles

Fletcher V Miles Mr

Since its creation the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) has been under scrutiny and repeatedly criticised for judicial failure and imperial arrogance. At the heart of this criticism is the simple fact that the ICC prosecution list is made up exclusively of African states, which demonstrates a clear bias towards the African continent.

This paper addresses the key factors causing perceptions of bias while considering the extreme difficulties faced by the ICC in operating a judicial body within a politically driven international community. Fundamental issues introduce the background of the bias such as funding distribution, the skew of ICC jurisdiction, colonialism …

Sign Up Or Sign Off: Asia’S Reluctant Engagement With The International Criminal Court, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The International Criminal Court argues that there is a need to achieve universal ratification so that the majority of mankind will no longer remain outside the protection of the ICC. In the Asia/Pacific region there is a relatively low accession rate of nation states to the Rome Statute. This paper proposes a taxonomy of resistance to ratification in the region, recognising that in speculating on the reasons for resistance to the ratification of international criminal justice, local to the global across Asia and the Pacific, there is a risk in both over emphasising cultural and political difference while at the …

Moral Touchstone, Not General Deterrence: The Role Of International Criminal Justice In Fostering Compliance With International Humanitarian Law, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article contends that international criminal justice provides minimal general deterrence of future violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Arguments that international courts and tribunals deter future violations – and that such deterrence is a primary objective – assume an internally inconsistent burden that the processes cannot bear, in essence setting international criminal justice up for failure. Moreover, the inherently limited number of proceedings, the length of time required, the dense opinions generated, the relatively light sentences and the robust confinement conditions all erode whatever limited general deterrence international criminal justice might otherwise provide. Bluntly stated, thousands of pages of …

Reading Between The Lines: Charging Instruments At The Ictr And The Icc, Claire Knittel

Pace Law Review

International criminal procedure, including the principle of notice, has grown exponentially from the Nuremburg Trials conducted after WWII, but the tribunals of today still face many sticky procedural issues. This Article will focus on two problems that the ICTR and the International Criminal Court (ICC), respectively, have faced with regard to notice. Part I reviews the jurisprudence of the ICTR and ICC, focusing particularly on requirements of notice and the requirements of the charging instruments in each tribunal. Part II discusses in detail a problem that each tribunal is facing: vagueness in the indictment at the ICTR and informal changes …

United States Objection To The International Criminal Court: A Paradox Of "Operation Enduring Freedom", Remigius Chibueze

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

There has been tremendous success in the signing and ratification of the ICC Statute. To date, 139 countries have signed and 89 countries, encompassing countries from all regions of the globe, have ratified the statute, which took effect on July 1, 2002 after being ratified by more than 66 countries. While most countries declared their support for the ICC, the U.S. was not in favor of signing the statute and therefore voted against it. There is no doubt that the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were crimes against humanity as contained in the Rome Statute. Therefore, if …

The Role Of Victims In The First Trial Of The International Criminal Court, Aldo Zammit Borda

Aldo Zammit Borda

The Rome Statute (RS) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a milestone for the role it accords to victims in international criminal proceedings. The provisions on victims’ participation in the RS system have been applied for the first time in the case of Mr Thomas Lubanga Dylio. This paper takes the view that a number of significant interlocutory pronouncements on victims’ participation have already been made by the ICC Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals Chambers which, as such, deserve further analysis. The paper will firstly provide a brief overview of developments with regard to victims’ participation in the area of …

The Katanga Complementarity Decisions, Susana Sacouto

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

On 25 September 2009, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a seminal decision on the subject of complementarity in the case Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga. The outcome of the Chamber's decision is that, even if a state has initiated an investigation or prosecution against an individual, the ICC may prosecute that individual for the same crimes or even a more selective range of crimes, so long as the state is willing to close the ongoing investigation or prosecution at the request of the ICC Prosecutor. While this decision is defensible under the language of the Rome …

The Katanga Complementarity Decisions.Pdf, Susana L. Sacouto

Susana L. SáCouto

The Chameleon Court: The Changing Face Of The Icc, Michael A. Newton

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

An International Criminal Court (ICC) that routinely overrides the good faith reasoning of domestic officials would inevitably face a crisis of confidence and cooperation. The practice of complementarity may well be the fulcrum supporting the Court's long-term legitimacy; and this principle is all the more important because it is designed to provide intellectual leverage to move non-States Parties towards treaty accession. The early practice of the ICC, however, indicates that the model of a healthy and cooperative synergy between the Court and domestic states is in danger of being replaced by a model of competition. The plain text of art …

Tribunal-Hopping With The Post-Conflict Justice Junkies, Elena Baylis

Articles

The field of post-conflict justice is characterized in no small part by international interventions into post-conflict settings. International interveners invest substantial resources toward the goals of post-conflict justice, including creating legal accountability for atrocities and rebuilding local and national justice systems that respect human rights and rule of law. The aims of post-conflict justice and the mechanisms by which the international community can contribute to post-conflict legal institutions and processes have been and continue to be studied intensively.

But while the institutions, processes, and goals of post-conflict justice have been carefully scrutinized, another aspect of international interventions into post-conflict justice …

Abducted Fugitives Before The International Criminal Court: Problems And Prospects, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the law and literature relating to the exertion of criminal jurisdiction over the person, there exists a nagging problem that has plagued practitioners, courts and academics alike. The phrase of art is usually something along the lines of "irregular rendition," but the issues are as notorious as they are controversial: what should a court do with an accused criminal brought before it as a result of abduction (or otherwise illegal detention) from a foreign state? And, in particular, should the fact of the illegal or irregular rendition of the fugitive affect either the court's ability or its willingness to …

Pinochet And The Uncertain Globalization Of Criminal Law, Robert C. Power

Robert C Power

Toward An International Criminal Procedure: Due Process Aspirations And Limitations, Gregory S. Gordon

ExpressO

The breathtaking growth of international criminal law over the past decade has resulted in the prosecution of Balkan and Rwandan mass murderers, the development of a substantial body of atrocity law jurisprudence and the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The growth of international criminal procedure, unfortunately, has not kept pace. Among its shortcomings, critics have pointed to lengthy pre-trial detention without a real possibility of provisional release, the use of affidavits and transcripts instead of live witnesses at trial, the absence of juries, and the right of prosecutorial …

Establishing A Precedent In Uganda: The Legitimacy Of National Amnesties Under The Icc, Robin B. Murphy

ExpressO

After 14 years of unconscionable wrath against local civilians, including enforced recruitment of thousands of child soldiers, the rebel group The Lord’s Resistance Army (“LRA”) was offered amnesty by the Ugandan government in 2000. However, as the conflict continued unabated, the Ugandan government, for the first time in the history of the Court, referred its case to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”). The ICC Prosecutor announced the beginning of an investigation and issued warrants for seven top LRA officers in October of 2005. The potential ICC prosecution raises many questions about the jurisdiction of the new court, including whether the …

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? The International Criminal Court As A Weapon Of Asymmetric Warfare, W. C. Austin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States is engaged in a war on terror against enemies who wage "asymmetric war" through terrorism, media manipulation, and "law-fare"---exploiting judicial processes to achieve political or military objectives.

This Article explores whether the fledgling International Criminal Court (ICC) could eventually be exploited by these groups as a tool of asymmetric "law-fare." It briefly traces the history of the ICC and recounts why the United States opposes the Court. Examining the methods of asymmetric war, the Authors then explore whether the ICC could be exploited by future asymmetric warriors.

The Authors describe three asymmetric methods that could be used …

Should An Effective International Criminal Court Have Primacy Or Be Complementary To National Courts? An Analysis Of Concurrent Jurisdiction In The Ad Hoc Tribunals And The Rome Statute, Godwin Yenika Fonye

LLM Theses and Essays

Concurrent criminal jurisdiction depicts a scenario where two or more judicial systems have the legal capacity to investigate, prosecute and punish an accused person for the same criminal acts under their respective, separate jurisdiction. This usually occurs between sovereign states. In the realm of crimes under international law, the distinguishing characteristic is the universal jurisdiction that is conferred on all States to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of such crimes. The "cumulative effect of these different principles of jurisdiction sometimes is to vest multiple states with concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute a given crime. This paper would attempt to analyze the …

Jurisdiction, Definition Of Crimes, And Triggering Mechanisms, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

The opportunity to create an international court that provides fair, equitable, and efficient justice is rare and important. It requires expertise in comparative and international law. Problems are serious, however. Failure to address the formidable problems could cause the Court to run a risk of failure that could be disastrous for international law, for the victims of the horrors that have occurred and that will occur, and for the world. Failure could come in at least two forms: (1) the Court could merely be a conduit for retribution after a pro-forma kangaroo court or (2) it will not have sufficient …