Law Commons^™

Accelerated Formation Of Customary International Law, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

This article examines the phenomenon of accelerated formation of customary international law. It argues that in periods of fundamental change (which the author characterizes as "Grotian Moments"), whether by technological advances, the commission of new forms of crimes against humanity, or the development of new means of warfare or terrorism, customary international law may form much more rapidly and with less state practice than is normally the case to keep up with the pace of developments. The article examines several case studies that explore the application and contours of the concept of "Grotian Moments."

Mass Murderers Discover Mass Murder: The Germans And Katyn, 1943, Kenneth F. Ledford

Faculty Publications

After the German army in 1943 discovered the graves of murdered Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest, Joseph Goebbels embarked upon a cynical publicity campaign to spread before the world the perils of Bolshevik success. But the Nazi discovery of Soviet crimes against leaders of Polish state and society elided the reality that from the very beginning of the German invasion of Poland, the SS had carried out identical mass murders of Polish intellectuals and other social leaders. Goebbels's campaign amounted to mass murderers ““uncovering” mass murders on the part of their adversaries and seeking cynically to use that …

Universal Jurisdiction And The Crime Of Aggression, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

In June 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, the states that are party to the Statute of the International Criminal Court agreed to amend the ICC Statute to add the crime of aggression to the Court's jurisdiction. One of the key compromises that made this possible was the adoption of a U.S.-proposed “understanding” which provided that the aggression amendment should not be interpreted as creating a right for national courts to prosecute the crime of aggression under universal jurisdiction. If, however, national courts already possess the right to do so under customary international law, stemming from the Nuremberg precedent, then the understanding …

Katyn: Justice Delayed Or Justice Denied? Report Of The Cleveland Experts' Meeting, Michael P. Scharf, Maria Szonert-Binienda

Faculty Publications

Report of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and the Libra Institute, Inc. hosted a Symposium and Experts Meeting in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, Cleveland, OH, February 4-5, 2011

Losing The War Against Dirty Money: Rethinking Global Standards On Preventing Money Laundering And Terrorism Financing, Richard K. Gordon

Faculty Publications

Following a brief overview in Part I.A of the overall system to prevent money laundering, Part I.B describes the role of the private sector, which is to identify customers, create a profile of their legitimate activities, keep detailed records of clients and their transactions, monitor their transactions to see if they conform to their profile, examine further any unusual transactions, and report to the government any suspicious transactions. Part I.C continues the description of the preventive measures system by describing the government's role, which is to assist the private sector in identifying suspicious transactions, ensure compliance with the preventive measures …

Responding To Political Corruption: Some Institutional Considerations, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

This article, written for a conference on "The Scandal of Political Corruption and the Law’s Response," examines some institutional mechanisms (such as open-meetings laws and term limits) that are intended to prevent corruption and others (such as independent counsels, special prosecutors, and ethics commissions) that seek to punish corruption after the fact. The article assesses some of the legal and practical constraints of these devices and, relying on the insights of Durkheim and other social scientists, asks whether some minimum level of corruption might serve the function of helping to define and reinforce social norms and values.

No Way Out? The Question Of Unilateral Withdrawals Of Referrals To The Icc And Other Human Rights Courts, Michael P. Scharf, Patrick Dowd

Faculty Publications

Growing out of the authors' work for the International Criminal Court, which was sponsored by a grant from the Open Society Institute, No Way Out examines one of the most vexing legal questions facing the International Criminal Court - whether a State that has referred a case to the Court can subsequently withdraw its referral as part of a domestic peace agreement? The issue has arisen with respect to Uganda's interest in withdrawing its self-referral as part of a peace deal with the leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. This article examines the Rome Statute, the drafting history, and the …

International Law And The Torture Memos, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

This article explores the influence of international law in the evolution of the Bush Administration's policies toward detainees in the global war on terror. The detainee case study provides a modern lens for evaluating Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner's hypothesis set forth in THE LIMITS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW that international law exerts no “compliance pull” on American policymakers in times of crisis.

Foreword: Combating Terrorist Financing, Richard K. Gordon, Christyn Rossman

Faculty Publications

Forward to the Case Western Reserve University School of Law's Institute for Global Security Law and Policy symposium The World Conference on Combating Terrorist Financing, Cleveland, OH, April 10 to 11, 2008

The Nrc Report And Its Implications For Criminal Litigation, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a landmark report on forensic science in February 2009. In the long run, the report’s recommendations, if adopted, would benefit law enforcement and prosecutors. The recommendations would allow forensic science to develop a strong scientific basis and limit evidentiary challenges regarding the reliability of forensic evidence. In keeping with its congressional charge, however, the NRC Committee did not directly address admissibility issues. Nevertheless, given its content, the report will inevitably be cited in criminal cases. Indeed, within months, the United States Supreme Court cited the report, noting …

Foreword: Sacred Violence: Religion And Terrorism, B. Jessie Hill, Adam F. Kinney

Faculty Publications

Forward to the Sacred Violence: Religion and Terrorism, Cleveland, OH, 2008

Tryst Or Terrorists? Financial Institutions And The Search For Bad Guys, Richard K. Gordon

Faculty Publications

Under international standards, financial institutions are required to freeze the accounts of customers identified by government as terrorists or the supporters of terrorism. Financial institutions are also required to monitor client transactions to determine if they suggest terrorism financing. However, financial institutions have been given little guidance as to when a pattern of transactions might suggest terrorism financing. By outsourcing the identification of such patters to financial institutions, governments have abdicated their responsibility and reduced the availability of financial services for clients who fit a popular but inaccurate profile of a terrorist.

On Terrorism And Whistleblowing, Michael P. Scharf, Colin T. Mclaughlin

Faculty Publications

At a Bio-Terrorism Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on March 31, 2006, the government participants were asked what they would do if a superior instructed them not to disclose information to the public about the likely grave health affects of an ongoing bio-terrorist attack. In response, they indicated that they would be reluctant to become a "whistleblower." This is not surprising since, despite the federal and state laws that purport to facilitate such whistleblowing for the public good, government whistleblowers routinely have faced loss of promotion, harassment, firing, and in some instances criminal prosecution when they …

Forward: Lessons From The Saddam Trial, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

Forward to the conference on "Lessons from the Daddam Trial."

Being The Government Means (Almost) Never Having To Say You’Re Sorry: The Sam Sheppard Case And The Meaning Of Wrongful Imprisonment, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

Dr. Sam Sheppard was at the center of the highest profile crime in Ohio history. As the Ohio Supreme Court put it, the case contained "[m]urder and mystery, society, sex and suspense." Sheppard's conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark 1966 ruling, but the controversy over the case continues to the present. The final legal chapter in the story may have been written with an unsuccessful wrongful-imprisonment lawsuit brought by the Sheppard estate in April 2000.

This paper uses the long debate over the Sheppard case as a vehicle for exploring the concept of wrongful imprisonment. …

A Statutory Approach To Criminal Law, Kevin C. Mcmunigal

Faculty Publications

Article suggests that learning about criminal statutes should be incorporated into teaching criminal law.

Symposium: Issues In Bioterrorism -Introduction, Jessica Wilen Berg

Faculty Publications

This issue of Health Matrix focuses on the legal issues involving bioterrorism.

Judicial Supermajorities And The Validity Of Statutes: How Mapp Became A Fourth Amendment Landmark Instead Of A First Amendment Footnote, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Tools For Enforcing International Criminal Justice In The New Millennium: Lessons From The Yugoslavia Tribunal, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

It is one thing to create an international institution devoted to enforcing international justice; it is quite another to make international justice work. Unlike the Nuremberg Tribunal, whose orders were implemented by the Allied occupation forces, the ICC will have no constabulary. In the absence of a direct enforcement mechanism, the ICC will have to rely on state cooperation and indirect means of inducing compliance with its arrest orders and requests for judicial cooperation.

The range of enforcement measures potentially available to the ICC include: (1) condemnation of non-cooperation by the Assembly of State Parties or the U.N. Security Council; …

Ohio’S Dna Databank Statute, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Terrorism On Trial: The Lockerbie Criminal Proceedings, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

On December 21, 1998, a bomb exploded in the cargo hold of Pan Am Flight 103 killing all 259 passengers and crew, as well as eleven residents of the town of Lockerbie where the wreckage of the Bowing 747 crashed 31,000 feet below.

Murder And Aggravated Murder, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Manslaughter And Other Homicides, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Letter Of The Law: The Scope Of The International Legal Obligation To Prosecute Human Rights Crimes, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

While international criminal conventions are limited in their application, there is growing recognition of a duty for states to do something to give meaning to human rights.

Getting Serious About An International Criminal Court, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Robert Mcnamara And The Art And Law Of Confession: ‘A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert Mcnamara’D Into Submission)’, Robert N. Strassfeld

Faculty Publications

This Article examines McNamara's "confession" and the public response to it within the context of an American tradition of confession in law and literature. Part I traces that tradition to the criminal conversion narratives and gallows speeches of colonial New England. Puritan society had clear expectations of what it took to make a good confession, and the Article identifies these rules for confession. It also examines the functions of confession in that society and argues that these confessions had several social consequences, including easing the consciences of those implicated in the criminal's punishment; bolstering civil and religious authority; warning the …

The Jury Is Still Out On The Need For An International Criminal Court, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

In 1989, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the 1990s to be "The Decade of International Law." Moreover, 1990, which witnessed both the devolution of the Cold War and the effective use of the United Nations to coalesce universal support for international action against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait, was a year of renewed optimism for international institutions. It is therefore fitting that proposals for an international criminal court should, at this time, get a fresh look from the international legal community. Towards this end, in the words of the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Sixth (Legal) Committee …

Swapping Amnesty For Peace: Was There A Duty To Prosecute International Crimes In Haiti?, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

By examining the political realities of the Haiti situation and the applicable provisions of treaty and customary law, this Article seeks to assess whether the Haitian amnesty did indeed achieve "a proper mix." To this end, the Article begins with a description of the abuses reportedly committed by Haiti's military regime and the international community's attempts to restore the democratically-elected govemment to power. Next, it explores the policy arguments for and against amnesty as applied to the Haitian situation and analyzes the scope of both the Haitian amnesty law and President Aristide's amnesty decree. This section is followed by a …

Criminal Law Defenses, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Note, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Silence: Taking A Stand On Fifth Amendment Implications For Court-Ordered Therapy Programs, Jessica Wilen Berg

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.