International Law Commons^™

The Reason Behind The Rules: From Description To Normativity In International Criminal Procedure, Noah Weisbord

Faculty Publications

As the International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to mature in its practices, it provokes discussion on whether the comfortable framework of adversarial and inquisitorial systems should be used to evaluate an institution that exists in a fundamentally different context from that of national criminal justice systems. In order to avoid entangling the ICC in rules that are not tailored to fit its specific goals and institutional context, the normative purposes underlying procedural rules derived from domestic institutions should be reexamined.

This article draws out basic principles that may be of use in reexamining the reasoning behind the rules of procedure …

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Claire Grandison, Benjamin Watson, Brynn Weinstein, Adam Dembling, Yaritza Velez, Michelle Flash

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Fact Finding Without Facts: The Uncertain Evidentiary Foundations Of International Criminal Convictions, Linda A. Malone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Israel, Palestine, And The Icc, Daniel Benoliel, Ronen Perry

Michigan Journal of International Law

In the wake of the Israel-Gaza 2008-09 armed conflict and recently commenced process at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Court will soon face a major challenge with the potential to determine its degree of judicial independence and overall legitimacy. It may need to decide whether a Palestinian state exists, either for the purposes of the Court itself, or perhaps even in general. The ICC, which currently has 113 member states, has not yet recognized Palestine as a sovereign state or as a member. Moreover, although the ICC potentially has the authority to investigate crimes which fall into its subject-matter …

International Criminal Courts And The Making Of Public International Law: New Roles For International Organizations And Individuals, Kenneth S. Gallant

Law Faculty Scholarship

Judicial decisions of the International Criminal Court and other international criminal tribunals now serve as instances of practice and statements of opinio juris for the formation of customary international criminal law and customary international human rights law related to criminal law and procedure. In these areas of law and others, they are no longer “subsidiary” sources as that word is used in the International Court of Justice Statute, Art. 38. In the same fields of customary international law, other binding acts of international organizations, such as the UN Security Council, are also used as practice, and the statements of these …

Book Review: The International Criminal Court: A Commentary On The Rome Statute By William Schabas, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

"A Commentary on the Rome Statute" by William Schabas is a giant of a work by a giant in the field. This review examines the breadth and scope of one of the most important works in the field, concluding that the book is not just an excellent resource but an indispensable one for anyone working in or following the field of international criminal justice.

Whose Lawfare Is It, Anyway?, David Scheffer

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Shahroo Yazdani, Christopher Valvardi, Aileen Thomson, Laticia Sanchez, Amanda Chace, Paul Rinefierd, Rebecca Williams

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Anna Maitland, Shahroo Yazdani, Cyrena Khoury, Paul Rinefierd, Chris Valvardi, John Coleman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Ivan Carpio, Lindsay Roberts, Zsofia Young, Christopher Tansey, Paul Rinefierd, Slava Kuperstein

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Beyond Compliance: Rethinking Why International Law Really Matters, Robert Howse, Ruti G. Teitel

Articles & Chapters

The conceptual, and more recently empirical, study of compliance has become a central preoccupation, and perhaps the fastest growing sub-field, in international legal scholarship. The authors seek to put in question this trend. They argue that looking at the aspirations of international law through the lens of rule-compliance leads to inadequate scrutiny and understanding of the diverse complex purposes and projects that multiple actors impose and transpose on international legality, and especially a tendency to oversimplify if not distort the relation of international law to politics. Citing a range of examples from different areas of internationallaw-ranging widely from international trade …

International Legal Dynamics And The Design Of Feasible Missions: The Case Of Afghanistan, W. Michael Reisman

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The International Legality Of Us Military Cross-Border Operations From Afghanistan Into Pakistan, Sean D. Murphy

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Meta-Theory Of International Criminal Procedure: Vindicating The Rule Of Law, Jens David Ohlin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

International criminal procedure is in a second phase of development, moving beyond the common law/civil law dichotomy and searching for its sui generis theory. The standard line is that international criminal procedure has an instrumental value: it services the general goals of international criminal justice and allows punishment for violations of substantive international criminal law. However, international criminal procedure also has an important and often overlooked intrinsic value not reducible to its instrumental value: it vindicates the Rule of Law. This vindication is performed by adjudicating allegations of criminal violations that occurred during periods of anarchy characterized by the absence …

Much Ado About Non-State Actors: The Vanishing Relevance Of State Affiliation In International Criminal Law, John Cerone

San Diego International Law Journal

Much has been made recently of the deficiencies of international law in grappling with violence perpetrated by non-state actors. From transnational terrorist networks to private security contractors (PSCs), organizations that are not officially part of the apparatus of any state are increasingly engaged in protracted episodes of intense violence, giving rise to questions of accountability under international law. Does international law provide rules applicable to such conduct? While the repression of crime, especially that perpetrated by non-state actors, has traditionally been left to the internal law of states, most international jurists will point to the ancient rules of international law …

The Push To Criminalize Aggression: Something Lost Amid The Gains?, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, but the Rome Statute fails to define the crime. A Special Work- ing Group on the Crime of Aggression, however, has made considerable progress in developing a definition. The consensus that has emerged favors a narrow definition. Three characteristics animate this consensus: (1) that state action is central to the crime; (2) that acts of aggression involve inter- state armed conflict; and (3) that criminal responsibility attaches only to very top political or military leaders. This Article normatively challenges this consensus. I argue that expanding the scope of the …

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Shaleen Brunsdale, Ellie Stevenson, Jenn Goldsmith, Peter Tran, Alexia Brooks, Katherine Anne Cleary

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Human Rights In Latin America: Introduction, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This Topical Research Digest on revisiting human rights in Latin America covers a wide range of subjects, both country specific and thematic, but has as its underlying theme the necessary protection of the human rights of vulnerable groups, whether they are women, children, lesbians, gay men, indigenous peoples, landless peasants, etc. This survey of literature on revisiting human rights in Latin America includes a rich selection of documents from international organizations, international human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a plethora of American and foreign journals.

The International Criminal Court And The Prevention Of Atrocities: Predicting The Court's Impact, James F. Alexander

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

International Justice And International Politics: Intertwined Paths, David Penna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

International Justice in Rwanda and the Balkans: Virtual Trials and the Struggle for State Cooperation. By Victor Peskin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 272 pp.

and

Building the International Criminal Court. By Benjamin N. Schiff. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 304 pp.

and

The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II. By Yuma Totani. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center / Harvard University Press, 2008. 335 pp.

Introductory Note To The International Criminal Court: Summary Of The Prosecutor's Application Under Article 58, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), undertook a significant step in his office's investigation of the situation in Darfur, Sudan, on November 20, 2008, when he requested Pre-Trial Chamber I to issue an arrest warrant against three named individuals. These individuals, whose names have remained confidential, were commanders of rebel groups in Darfur that had carried out an attack on September 29, 2007 against African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) peacekeepers stationed at the Haskanita Military Group Site.

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 …

Ensuring Defense Counsel Competence At International Criminal Tribunals, Sonja B. Starr

Articles

This article addresses the problem of incompetent representation by defense counsel in international criminal tribunals. According to the author, the ineffectiveness of a particular attorney may be attributable to a number offactors, including a lack of experience with international criminal law, unfamiliarity with the procedures of international criminal tribunals, and the simple failure to be fluent in the languages used by the court. Starr explains that the problem of incompetence persists because of obstacles to the recruitment, retention, and appointment of proficient defense lawyers, as well as the lack of administrative or judicial oversight concerning competence. The author points out …

Importance Of Effective Investigation Of Sexual Violence And Gender-Based Crimes At The International Criminal Court, Susana Sácouto, Katherine Cleary

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Investigation And Prosecution Of Sexual And Gender-Based Crimes Before The International Criminal Court, Diane Lupig

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Conceptualizing Aggression, Noah Weisbord

Faculty Publications

The special working group tasked by the International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties to define the supreme international crime, the crime of aggression, has produced a breakthrough draft definition.

This paper analyzes the key concepts that make up the emerging definition of the crime of aggression by developing and applying a future-oriented methodology that brings together scenario planning and grounded theory. It proposes modifications and interpretations of the constituent concepts of the crime of aggression intended to make the definition sociologically relevant today and in the foreseeable future.

Regionalizing International Criminal Law?, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Faculty Publications

This article examines the initially cooperative but increasingly tense relationship between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Africa. It assesses the various legal and political reasons for the mounting criticisms of the ICC by African governments, especially within the African Union (AU), following the indictment of incumbent Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir. The author situates the ICC within broader African efforts to establish more peaceful societies through the continent-wide AU. He submits that the ICC, by prosecuting architects of serious international crimes in Africa’s numerous conflicts, could contribute significantly to the continent’s fledgling peace and security architecture which aims …

Bringing The Crime Of Aggression Within The Active Jurisdiction Of The Icc, Donald M. Ferencz

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Transcript: Jurisdictional And Trigger Mechanisms, Mark S. Ellis

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

A Pragmatic Approach To Jurisdictional And Definitional Requirements For The Crime Of Aggression In The Rome Statute, David Scheffer

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.