Recent Developments In International Criminal Law:Trying To Stay Afloat Between Scylla And Charybdis

2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Swaak-Goldman
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The One

An analysis of recent development in international criminal law shows the emergence of two countervailing trends: on the one hand a broadening trend, in that the various prosecutorial meansused to hold individuals accountable for violations of certain international crimes has expanded; and on the other hand a narrowing trend, in that the protection from prosecution afforded by international law to certain individuals, that once seemed to falter, has been reinstated.

scholarly journals Appraisal-Based and Flexible Approaches to External Precedent in International Criminal Law

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 643-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALDO ZAMMIT BORDA
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Flexible Approach ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Principle Of Legality

AbstractThis article focuses on the approaches of international criminal judges to using external precedent, distinguishing between the appraisal-based and flexible approaches. On the one hand, the appraisal-based approach refers to uses of external judicial decisions which are preceded by an express legal appraisal. On the other hand, the flexible approach denotes a less stringent use of such decisions. It finds that, in a number of cases, international criminal judges have adopted a flexible approach to decisions and have assimilated them within the legal framework of the referring court or tribunal without the necessary adjustment. This may have important implications for the principle of legality and the fairness of the proceedings. The paper indicates that the adoption of either the appraisal-based or flexible approaches to external judicial decisions is not necessarily linked to the specific legal backgrounds of the judges involved, and different judges hailing from varying legal backgrounds have shifted between these approaches in different cases. This suggests that there is need for greater rigour in the judicial methodology for using external judicial decisions and, in particular, the importance of the appraisal-based approach to using such decisions, to ensure their the congruence with the legal framework of the referring court or tribunal.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW AND AR (AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC) LEGISLATION GENOCIDE CRIME AND ITS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL CRIMES

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (04) ◽  
pp. 48-52
Author(s):  
Erkin Humbat Musayev Humbat Musayev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
International Law ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Transnational Crime ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Crimes

Key words: international law, international criminal law, genocide, war crimes, transnational crime

When the Child Surpasses the Father – Admissible Defences in International Criminal Law

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Fournet
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Individual Criminal Responsibility

AbstractDue to the heinous nature of international crimes, admissible defences in the context of international criminal justice understandably constitute an issue surrounded with controversy. Yet, while International Criminal Law precludes the use of a series of defences, it also admits that certain grounds may exclude individual criminal responsibility or mitigate punishment even in the case of the most serious international crimes. The present study thus proposes to analyse the permissibility of these defences and the availability of such grounds for excluding responsibility by drawing a comparison between Public International Law and International Criminal Law and by highlighting the differences and discrepancies between the two systems. Ultimately, this analysis aims at demonstrating that International Criminal Law, one of Public International Law's children, has now surpassed its parent to become a more sophisticated and a fairer legal and judicial system, for both the defendants and the victims.

scholarly journals Immunities and International Crimes before the ILC: Looking for Innovative Solutions

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 22-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Forteau
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Criminal Jurisdiction ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Sovereign Equality ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Over Time

The International Law Commision's (ILC's) work on Immunity of State officials from Criminal Jurisdiction, which started ten years ago, has generated over time high expectations. In light of progress in international criminal law, the ILC is expected to strike a reasonable balance between the protection of sovereign equality and the fight against impunity in case of international crimes. It requires the Commission to determine whether or not immunity from criminal jurisdiction applies or should apply when international crimes are at stake. At its 2017 session, the ILC eventually adopted Draft Article 7 on this issue, which proved quite controversial and did not meet states’ approval. The purpose of this essay is to shed some light on the main shortcomings of this provision and to identify possible alternatives that could permit the ILC to overcome the deadlock concerning its adoption.

s.VIII Boundaries, Ch.34 Transnational Crimes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilfoyle Douglas
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Irreducible Element ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Draft Code ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intrinsic Character

This chapter focuses on transnational crimes. Though these were long part of the international criminal law (ICL) canon, it is only late in the discipline’s history that they became conceived as being something distinct. As such, while this chapter envisages the history of ICL, it also focuses more on the origin of the distinction in the Draft Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind. This distinction, which became quite influential, foregrounded crimes under general international law and crimes of international concern as two separate categories. However, this chapter takes a skeptical view of the distinction, noting the ‘question begging’ character of defining international crimes on the basis of an implicitly accepted notion of what international crimes are. But this is not to say that the attempt at drawing distinctions is fruitless—in fact, it sustains relevant conversations about, for example, the intrinsic character of gravity of various crimes in relation to each other. But, as this chapter shows, it does point to an irreducible element of faith in any act of prioritization.

scholarly journals The Crisis of International Criminal Law in Africa: A Regional Regime in Response?

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-311
Author(s):  
Eki Yemisi Omorogbe
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Crimes

Abstract This article considers the African Union’s (AU) proposal for a regional court for international crimes under the Malabo Protocol 2014 (Protocol). It places that within the AU’s rejection of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for African Heads of States that are not party to the Rome Statute and a more general protection of incumbents. It argues that the enthusiasm for establishing a regional criminal court, which lacks jurisdiction to prosecute incumbents, has not been sustained and African states remain committed to the ICC. It shows that nevertheless the Protocol’s provisions on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, although imperfect, better address the specific character of armed conflicts in Africa than current international law, including the Rome Statute of the ICC. It concludes that the regional court for international crimes is unlikely to be established unless the ICC takes further action against incumbent leaders but that the Protocol’s provisions could be used in the development of a more Africa-centric international law.

Developments in international criminal law and the case of business involvement in international crimes

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (887) ◽  
pp. 981-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Kyriakakis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Recent Developments

AbstractIn the wake of the mandate of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights (SRSG), international criminal law looks set to play a role in measures towards the legal accountability of business actors involved in gross human rights and humanitarian law violations. Against the backdrop of the SRSG's now completed mandate, this article looks at three recent developments in international criminal law to consider the field's potential relevance to business actors involved in conflict. The first is the newest mode of liability recently adopted by the International Criminal Court, indirect perpetration through an organisation. The second is the aiding and abetting doctrine as applied by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Charles Taylor case. The third is the potential uptake of a practice of thematic prosecutions focusing on particular under-regulated issues of concern for the international community.

scholarly journals Short Analysis of Klaus Barbie and Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo in Pointing out of the Responsability of Natural Persons for International Crimes

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-67
Author(s):  
Dumitrita Florea
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Foreign National ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
International Crimes

In international law doctrine carried on extensive talking and still it is a actual subject, if the individual is liable of responsability and, implied, of sanction for international crimes. Before to reveal some aspects of natural persons responsability for international crimes a couple of clarifications is required. Thus, we recall that the first author which use the term international criminal law was Jeremy Bentham, who distinguished between the criminal law of the community of states and the criminal law of a state. Over time, legal doctrine has extrapolated the concept of legal relationships with an international element, making the distinction between public international law and private international law. If criminal law is a branch of public law, then international criminal law becomes a sub-branch of international law, regulating criminal legal relationships with an international element. In other words, referring to private international law, we specify that it represents the totality of legal norms that resolve conflicts of laws or conflicts of jurisdiction and those regarding the legal status of the foreign national. In this context, the international element appears as a factual circumstance related to a legal relationship due to which this relationship is related to several legal systems (or laws belonging to different countries). With regard to international criminal law, we specify that this is a branch of public international law and designates the set of legal norms stipulated in various conventions and treaties by which states, in their capacity as subjects of law, order the repression of illicit acts that infringe fundamental rights of the international community. In other words, international criminal law consists of rules of general international law that govern the criminal liability of natural persons, individuals, for acts that harm international public order and constitute crimes against humanity.

15. International criminal law

2021 ◽  
pp. 296-316
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
Second World

This chapter looks at the purposes and principles of international criminal law. International criminal law seeks to ensure that perpetrators of certain heinous acts are criminally liable for their acts, either before national or international criminal courts or tribunals. It is a fairly recent addition to international law and it was not until after the end of the Second World War that it became accepted that international law authorizes the criminal prosecution of individual perpetrators of serious offences. The chapter begins by discussing the most important sources of international criminal law. It then examines the prosecution of international crimes before international criminal courts, including the conditions for prosecuting suspected international criminals before the International Criminal Court. It also discusses the national prosecution of international crimes and the obligation found in a number of conventions to criminalize and prosecute certain conduct.

15. International criminal law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
Second World

This chapter looks at the purposes and principles of international criminal law. International criminal law seeks to ensure that perpetrators of certain heinous acts are criminally liable for their act, either before national or international criminal courts or tribunals. It is a fairly recent addition to international law and it was not until after the end of the Second World War that it became accepted that international law authorizes the criminal prosecution of individual perpetrators of serious offences. The chapter begins by discussing the most important sources of international criminal law. It then examines the prosecution of international crimes before international criminal courts, including the conditions for prosecuting suspected international criminals before the International Criminal Court. It also discusses the national prosecution of international crimes and the obligation found in a number of conventions to criminalize and prosecute certain conduct.

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