Law Commons^™

Israel, Palestine And The Icc., Maria Isidora Thomas

Maria A Thomas Mrs

Academic Research with Professor Maximo Langer about the recent incorporation of Palestine to the ICC and the possible effects on its relations with Israel and the ongoing conflict.

Accountability For “Crimes Against The Laws Of Humanity In Boxer China: The Experiment With International Justice At Paoting-Fu, Benjamin E. Brockman-Hawe

Benjamin E. Brockman-Hawe

This paper covers a significant but generally unknown and understudied caesure in the development of international criminal law occurred during the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-Western and anti‑Christian peasant insurgency mostly located in Northeast China. During the early stages of the Chinese intervention, at a time when the relief force was still bogged down in Beijing, approximately seventy Christians were gruesomely murdered in Paoting-fu. Securing and “punishing” the city became a priority for Western military forces, who began the necessary short march southward once Beijing’s Legation Quarter was cleared of Boxers. The Poating-fu operation could have taken the form of the …

Should Mere Direct Participation In Hostilities Be Treated As A War Crime?, Andrea Harrison

Andrea Harrison

This article attempts to argue that acts that constitute mere direct participation in hostilities during armed conflict should not be treated as war crimes, but rather should be criminalized domestically, or addressed through amnesties when appropriate. In order to support this argument, the author looks at both International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Criminal Law (ICL) and their respective treatment of direct participation in hostilities. The author then examines offenses within the 2009 Military Commissions Act which would normally be deemed as mere participation in hostilities and compares these to offenses normally found under international law. Finally, the author explains …

Plead Guilty, Without Bargaining: Learning From China’S “Summary Procedure” Before Enacting Indonesia’S “Special Procedure” In Criminal Procedure., Choky Risda Ramadhan Mr.

Choky Risda Ramadhan Mr.

Because Indonesian courts are increasingly overrun with criminal cases, Indonesian lawmakers recently introduced a criminal procedure bill to include “special procedure” (jalur khusus), a procedure that allows defendants to plead guilty in order to increase efficiency. Unlike plea-bargaining in the U.S., this procedure more resembles China’s “summary procedure,” which is solely conducted by a judge, not negotiated independently by prosecutors and defendants. Before enacting the provision of special procedure, however, Indonesian lawmakers should learn from China’s successes and failures implementing summary procedure. While this procedure resulted in increased efficiency in China, it did not provide for defense counsel, and …

The Forgotten Nuremberg Hate Speech Case: Otto Dietrich And The Future Of Persecution Law, Gregory S. Gordon

Gregory S. Gordon

Among international jurists, the conventional wisdom is that atrocity speech law sprang fully formed from two judgments issued by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT): the crimes against humanity conviction of Nazi newspaper editor Julius Streicher, and the acquittal on the same charge of Third Reich Radio Division Chief Hans Fritzsche. But the exclusive focus on the IMT judgments as the founding texts of atrocity speech law is misplaced. Not long after Streicher and Fritzsche, and in the same courtroom, the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunal (NMT) in the Ministries Case, issued an equally significant crimes against …

"First, Do No Harm:" Interpreting The Crime Of Aggression To Exclude Humanitarian Intervention, Joshua L. Root

Joshua L. Root

The yet to be implemented Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute criminalizes, as the crime of aggression, acts of aggression which by their “character, gravity and scale” constitute a “manifest violation” of the Charter of the United Nations. This article argues that Article 8 bis must be construed so as to exclude from the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction uses of force which are facial violations of the UN Charter but which nonetheless comport with the principles and purposes of the Charter, such as bona fide humanitarian intervention unauthorized by the Security Council. This article applies the Vienna Convention on …

U.S. Institutionalized Torture With Impunity: Examining Rape And Sexual Abuse In Custody Through The Icty Jurisprudence, Allison Rogne

Allison Rogne

It is a well-established principle, both domestically and internationally, that rape is torture when suffered as part of confinement. It is also well documented, both domestically and internationally, that rape is rampant in U.S. prisons. And it is well established, both domestically and internationally, that those who torture should not do so with impunity, that that impunity is an affront to civilization and the human rights principles to which we all strive. And yet, in U.S. prisons, shocking numbers of women are systematically raped and sexually abused by those that would rehabilitate them. Female prisoners are victims of vaginal and …

A Decade Of Progress: Promising Models For Children Found In The Turkish Juvenile Justice System, Brenda A. Mckinney, Lauren Salins

Brenda A McKinney

Turkey has improved its approach to interacting with children in conflict with the law over the past decade, moving closer to a system that ensures its children the opportunity to strive for a better future. This Article focuses on two promising Turkish reforms that hold potential to improve juvenile justice systems internationally, namely: open model incarceration and Turkey’s approach to diversion. This Article demonstrates how a child-centered juvenile justice system can improve public safety and outcomes for youth. It also addresses potential challenges to each model and identifies broader issues that may require reform.

Speech Along The Atrocity Spectrum, Gregory S. Gordon

Gregory S. Gordon

In the abstract, speech may have much intrinsic value with its power to facilitate democracy, self-actualization, and good will. But, in certain contexts, it can also be quite deleterious, spawning division, ignorance, and hatred. Within the crucible of atrocity, speech may be similarly Janus-faced. Its power to prevent mass violence is indubitable. But its capacity for enabling mass violence is similarly unquestionable. So the issue arises: when and how may speech work for good or ill in relation to atrocity? This Article grapples with that question. And, in doing so, it finds that the relationship between speech and atrocity should …

International Money Laundering: The Need For Icc Investigative And Adjudicative Jurisdiction, Michael R. Anderson

Michael Anderson

Money laundering is one of the most pressing issues in the realm of international financial crimes. One of the biggest issues involved in international money laundering is the problem of adjudication. There is no international organization that currently hears these sorts of claims, forcing nations to adjudicate these crimes on their own, often without adequate resources to effectively investigate and enforce their money laundering statutes.

This article argues that, in order to more effectively prevent and adjudicate international money laundering offenses, the International Criminal Court should adopt an international money laundering statute designating these activities as a crime within the …