Law Commons^™

Law Not War: A Reflection On The Life And Work Of Benjamin B. Ferencz, 1920-2023, Patricia M. Mische

The Journal of Social Encounters

Solidarity in this essay is differentiated from collectivism, conformity, group think, herd mentality and mob action. It is defined as a mindful and empathetic choice to work in unity with others to alleviate human suffering and uphold human dignity by advancing systems of greater justice, peace, freedom, and inclusion for all. This form of solidarity is explored through the prism of one person’s life – that of Benjamin Ferencz – and how he used his experience, talents, and skills to develop and promote the international legal framework needed to address and prevent crimes against humanity. It traces his life from …

Justice Without Power: Yemen And The Global Legal System, Amulya Vadapalli

Michigan Law Review

The war in Yemen has remained the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since 2015, and yet it is shockingly invisible. The global legal system fails to offer a clear avenue through which the Yemeni people can hold the state actors responsible for their harm accountable. This Note analyzes international legal mechanisms for vindicating war crimes and human rights abuses perpetrated in Yemen. Through the lens of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, it highlights gaps in the global legal structure, proposes alternative accountability processes, and uses a variety of sources—including interviews with practitioners and Arabic language legal scholarship—to explicate a victim-centered transitional justice process …

International Criminal Responsibility Of The Individual: A Quantum Leap For Man’S Humanity, Giovanni Distefano Prof.

مجلة جامعة الإمارات للبحوث القانونية UAEU LAW JOURNAL

Properly speaking, international criminal responsibility is not a new chapter of public international law, but rather the recent revival of an old chapter of the Law of Nations. In the recent past, we have seen the emergence of ad hoc international criminal tribunals that is with a limited competence, as established in their statutes.([1]) Instead, today’s International Criminal Court enjoys, within its statutory (treaty) limits, a general jurisdiction; it is thus a permanent organ of a general character, mirroring the ICJ in matters of international criminal law. It will also be in charge of the international criminal responsibility …

International Criminal Responsibility Of The Individual: A Quantum Leap For Man’S Humanity, Giovanni Distefano

UAEU Law Journal

Properly speaking, international criminal responsibility is not a new chapter of public international law, but rather the recent revival of an old chapter of the Law of Nations. In the recent past, we have seen the emergence of ad hoc international criminal tribunals that is with a limited competence, as established in their statutes.[1] Instead, today’s International Criminal Court enjoys, within its statutory (treaty) limits, a general jurisdiction; it is thus a permanent organ of a general character, mirroring the ICJ in matters of international criminal law. It will also be in charge of the international criminal responsibility of …

The Icc Should Not Encourage Occupation, Uri Weiss

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecuting Starvation Crimes In Yemen's Civil War, Laura Graham

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"This article will discuss whether the responsible parties for starvation in Yemen can be prosecuted under international criminal law (ICL) or international humanitarian law (IHL) for war crimes or crimes against humanity (CAH)."

Opportunities And Challenges Seeking Accountability For War Crimes In Palestine Under The International Criminal Court's Complementarity Regime, Thomas Obel Hansen

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently conducting a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine, involving allegations against Israeli authorities and military personnel as well as what the Prosecutor refers to as “Palestinian armed groups.” The preliminary examination creates a framework for advancing accountability norms in the Palestinian context and globally for international crimes committed by States with significant resources. However, the road to accountability is anything but straightforward. Indeed, several challenges relating both to the applicable legal framework and broader policy issues, could delay—or potentially even undermine—the accountability process, if not properly understood and managed. One particularly important …

Improving The Odds: Strengthening The Prospects For Accountability In The Syrian Conflict By Regulating The Marketplace For Information On Atrocity Crimes, Kaitlin Owens

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nineteen Minutes Of Horror: Insights From The Scorpions Execution Video, Iva Vukušić

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

After the fall of Srebrenica in summer of 1995, the Scorpions unit, dispatched to support the Bosnian Serb Army as it took over the enclave, shot six men in Trnovo. The men, three of whom were underage, were some of thousands of Bosnian Muslims that fell into the hands of Bosnian Serb troops, and that were executed in the days and weeks following July 11th. A member of the unit filmed the execution. Fragments of the video were first shown during the Slobodan Milosevic trial, and multiple times in the years after, in the courtrooms in The Hague and Belgrade. …

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

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 …

Detention By Armed Groups Under International Law, Andrew Clapham

International Law Studies

Does international law entitle armed groups to detain people? And what obligations are imposed on such non-state actors when they do detain? This article sets out suggested obligations for armed groups related to the right to challenge the basis for any detention and considers some related issues of fair trial and punishment. The last part of this article briefly considers the legal framework governing state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility for those that assist armed groups that detain people in ways that violate international law.

Individual Criminal Responsibility For The Destruction Of Religious And Historic Buildings: The Al Mahdi Case, Milena Sterio

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, also known as Abon Tourab, was a member of the radical Islamic group Ansar Eddine, serving as one of four commanders during its brutal occupation of Timbuktu in 2012. The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Al Mahdi on several charges of war crimes, for intentional attacks against ten religious and historic buildings and monuments. All the buildings which Al Mahdi was charged with attacking had been under UNESCO protection, and most had been listed as world heritage sites. The case against Al Mahdi at the ICC unfolded relatively quickly and efficiently, from the official Malian …

Expert Workshop Session: The Global Child, Haley Chafin, Jena Emory, Meredith Head, Elizabeth Verner

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Expert Workshop Session: Child Witnesses: Testimony, Evidence, And Witness Protection, Chelsea Swanson, Elizabeth Devos, Chloe Ricke, Andy Shin

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin

International Law Studies

Do Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) qualify as moral or rational agents? This paper argues that combatants on the battlefield are required by the demands of behavior interpretation to approach a sophisticated AWS with the “Combatant’s Stance”—the ascription of mental states required to understand the system’s strategic behavior on the battlefield. However, the fact that an AWS must be engaged with the combatant’s stance does not entail that other persons are relieved of criminal or moral responsibility for war crimes committed by autonomous weapons. This article argues that military commanders can and should be held responsible for perpetrating war crimes through …

Criminally Disproportionate Warfare: Aggression As A Contextual War Crime, Rachel E. Vanlandingham

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

International law has long recognized the general principle that an illegal act cannot produce legal rights. Yet, this principle of ex injuria jus non oritur is seemingly ignored in the uneasy relationship between the two international legal regimes most associated with war. A head of State can, for example, violate international law regulating the resort to armed force by ordering his military forces to illegally invade another country, yet he, through his military forces, simultaneously and subsequently benefits on the battlefield from the application of the separate body of international law regulating the actual conduct of war. The paradoxical benefit …

Current U.S. Policy On The Crime Of Aggression: History In The Unmaking?, Donald M. Ferencz

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

At the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, a U.S. policy statement on the crime of aggression was presented as part of a panel entitled "The ICC Crime of Aggression and the Changing International Security Landscape." This article examines current U.S. policy on the crime of aggression, highlighting the historic role that the U.S. played in establishing aggression as an international crime after World War II, and concludes that activation of ICC jurisdiction over the crime of aggression would be a significant step forward in the development of international law.

Can The Icc Consider Quesztions On Jus Ad Bellum In A War Crimes Trial?, Thomas S. Harris

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

War has forever been considered the utmost necessary evil. Nevertheless, international law has for some time sought to limit the right to wage war (jus ad bellum), as well as the means and methods employed amid war (jus in bello). Although these two branches of law now share humanitarian purposes the prevention of war and its effects -- they have generally been kept separate throughout history. However, confronted with widespread violations of jus in bello, resulting in appalling humanitarian disasters, some have suggested amending their relationship. This was notably sought at the Nuremberg Trials, where prosecutors failed to contend that …

The Fission And Fusion In International Use Of Force: Relating Unlawful Use Of Force And The War Crime Of Disproportionate Force Not Justified By Miitary Necessity, Mbori Otieno, Emmah Wabuke, Smith Otieno

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Jus ad bellum and jus in bello are not disparate in operation. There are several points of intersection in the two concepts, commencing with the context in which they apply, and further, in their interpretation of the general principles of proportionality and necessity. Although proportionality connotes divergent theoretical notions depending on the backdrop against which it is set, in practice, these notions are often fused together. However, points of fission (divergence) still persist. The best example of which is in the context of 'The Crime of Disproportionate Use of Force' where the difference between the two notions of 'proportionality' can …

Public Enemy: The Public Element Of Direct And Public Incitement To Commit Genocide, Brendan Saslow

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Direct and public incitement to commit genocide has been an international crime since the 1940s. The public element plays a role in each international incitement case, yet many scholars consider it straightforward and unworthy of attention. This article seeks to analyze jurisprudence, primarily developed at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, on how to determine whether inciting to commit genocide is public. This element is most problematic in cases involving speech through broadcast media such as television and radio. Moreover if ICTR case law informs future international criminal proceedings it may be an issue in a future genocide that involves …

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 …

Prosecuting War Crimes Before An International Tribunal, Howard S. Levine

Akron Law Review

It is probably appropriate to begin this discussion by stating that while the author has acted as an official reviewer of records of war crimes trials, and has read and analyzed innumerable records of those trials, he has never personally prosecuted an individual accused of a war crime.' Accordingly, this discussion will necessarily be based upon what others have said and done with respect to the problem of prosecuting war crimes cases before international tribunals. Some people would label such a discussion as "academic", intending the word to be interpreted pejoratively. If "academic" means knowledge gained from the study of …

War Crimes And International Criminal Law, Stuart H. Deming

Akron Law Review

My remarks will focus on three particular areas relating to war crimes and international criminal law. These will include the prospect of an international criminal court, my experience with war crimes issues in Ethiopia, and how traditional practitioners can become involved with these issues.

Autonomous Weapons And Accountability: Seeking Solutions In The Law Of War, Kelly Cass

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Autonomous weapons are increasingly used by militaries around the world. Unlike conventional unmanned weapons such as drones, autonomous weapons involve a machine deciding whether to deploy lethal force. Yet, because a machine cannot have the requisite mental state to commit a war crime, the legal scrutiny falls onto the decision to deploy an autonomous weapon. This Article focuses on the dual questions arising from that decision: how to regulate autonomous weapon use and who should be held criminally liable for an autonomous weapon’s actions. Regarding the first issue, this Article concludes that regulations expressly limiting autonomous weapon use to non-human …

Poor Judgment: Why The Iraqi Special Tribunal Is The Wrong Mechanism For Trying Saddam Hussein On Charges Of Genocide, Human Rights Abuses, And Other Violations Of International Law, David M. Gersh

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

A New Forensics: Developing Standard Remote Sensing Methodologies To Detect And Document Mass Atrocities, Nathaniel A. Raymond, Brittany L. Card, Isaac L. Baker

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight potential methods applicable to a standard forensic approach for the analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery that may contain evidence of alleged mass atrocities.

Methods: The primary method employed is the retrospective analysis of a case study involving the use of high-resolution satellite imagery analysis to document alleged mass atrocities. The case study utilized herein is the Satellite Sentinel Project’s reporting on the May 2011 sacking of Abyei Town by Government of Sudan-aligned armed actors. In the brief case study, categories of objects, patterns of activities, and types of alleged mass atrocity …

Restrictions On Humanitarian Aid In Darfur: The Role Of The International Criminal Court, Mominah Usmani

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Denying Reparation For Slave And Forced Laborers In World War Ii And The Ensuing Humanitarian Rights Implications: A Case Study Of The Icj’S Recent Decision In Jurisdictional Immunities Of The State (Ger. V. It.: Greece Intervening), Morgan L. Klinzing

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Superior Orders Defense: A Principal-Agent Analysis, Bohrer Ziv

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.