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Full-Text Articles in Law
Do Former Leaders Have An International Right To Act As Their Own Lawyer In War Crimes Trials?, Michael P. Scharf, Christopher Rassi
Do Former Leaders Have An International Right To Act As Their Own Lawyer In War Crimes Trials?, Michael P. Scharf, Christopher Rassi
Faculty Publications
Picture what would happen if former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sought to represent himself at his war crimes trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal. While doing so, assume that the judge presiding over his case decided to follow the precedent of the Trial Chamber of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that tried the case of Slobodan Milosevic, which held: "[U]nder customary international law, the defendant has a right to counsel, but he also has a right not to have counsel."