Download or read book Standing Up for Justice written by Theodor Meron and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-25 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about international criminal justice written by one of its foremost practitioners and academic thinkers, Judge Theodor Meron. For two decades, Judge Meron has been at the heart of the international criminal justice system, serving as President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and a Judge of the Appeals Chambers of the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Drawing on this experience, and his life and career before serving as an international judge, Judge Meron reflects on some of the key questions facing the international criminal justice system. In the opening chapter, Judge Meron writes vividly about his childhood experiences in Poland during World War II, his education, career with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and subsequent move into academia in the United States. The book continues with Meron's reflections on what it means to transform from a law professor into an international criminal judge, and shifts focus to the criminal courtroom, addressing topics such as the judicial function, the rule of law, and the principle of fairness in trying atrocity crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Judge Meron discusses judicial independence and impartiality in international criminal courts, shedding light on the mystery of judicial decision-making and deliberations. Notably, he addresses the controversial subjects of acquittals and the early release of prisoners. Although acquittals are often seen as a failure of international justice, Judge Meron argues that legal principle must come before any extraneous purpose, however desirable that purpose may be. Finally, the book looks ahead at the challenges facing the future of international justice and accountability, and discusses the all-important question: does international criminal justice work?
Download or read book Invisible Atrocities written by Randle C. DeFalco and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-17 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book assesses the role aesthetic factors play in shaping what forms of mass violence are viewed as international crimes.
Download or read book Pursuing Justice for Mass Atrocities written by Sarah McIntosh and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-18 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Pursuing Justice for Mass Atrocities: A Handbook for Victim Groups" is an educational resource for victim groups that want to influence or participate in the justice process for mass atrocities. It presents a range of tools that victim groups can use, from building a victim-centered coalition and developing a strategic communications plan to engaging with policy makers and decision makers and using the law to obtain justice.
Download or read book Atrocity Punishment and International Law written by Mark A. Drumbl and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-04-30 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that accountability for extraordinary atrocity crimes should not uncritically adopt the methods and assumptions of ordinary liberal criminal law. Criminal punishment designed for common criminals is a response to mass atrocity and a device to promote justice in its aftermath. This book comes to this conclusion after reviewing the sentencing practices of international, national, and local courts and tribunals that punish atrocity perpetrators. Sentencing practices of these institutions fail to attain the goals that international criminal law ascribes to punishment, in particular retribution and deterrence. Fresh thinking is necessary to confront the collective nature of mass atrocity and the disturbing reality that individual membership in group-based killings is often not maladaptive or deviant behavior but, rather, adaptive or conformist behavior. This book turns to a modern, and adventurously pluralist, application of classical notions of cosmopolitanism to advance the frame of international criminal law to a broader construction of atrocity law and towards an interdisciplinary, contextual, and multicultural conception of justice.
Download or read book Transitional Justice and a State s Response to Mass Atrocity written by Jacopo Roberti di Sarsina and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings a new focus to the ongoing debate on holding perpetrators of massive humanitarian and human rights violations accountable in countries in transition. It provides a clear-cut and comprehensive legal analysis of the content and nature of a state's obligations to investigate and prosecute as enshrined in the most important humanitarian and human rights treaties; it disentangles the common fallacy that these procedural obligations are naturally rooted and clearly spelled out in the general human rights treaties; and it explains the flaws in an absolutist interpretation. This analysis serves to understand whether such procedural obligations, if narrowly construed, act as impediments to countries emerging from periods of conflict or systematic repression in the face of contingent circumstances and the formidable dilemmas raised by a univocal understanding of justice as retribution. Exploring the latest instances of interpretation and application via an analysis of state practice, the jurisprudence of treaty bodies, international courts and tribunals, soft law instruments, and doctrinal contributions, the book also addresses the complex issue of amnesty, and other transitional justice mechanisms designed to restore peace and facilitate transition traditionally included in national reconciliation programs, and criticizes the contention that amnesty is always prohibited by international law. It also considers these problems from the viewpoint of the International Criminal Court, focusing on the cases of Uganda and Colombia after the 2016 peace agreement. Lastly, the volume offers a detailed analysis of techniques that may neutralize relevant obligations under international law, such as denunciation, derogation, limitation, and the public international law defenses of force majeure and necessity. Drawing attention to the importance of a multidisciplinary and practical approach to these unsettling questions, and endorsing a pluralistic notion of accountability, the book will appeal to legal scholars and transitional justice experts as well as practitioners, human rights advocates, and government officials. Dr Jacopo Roberti di Sarsina is an International Law Expert at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna School of Law, and a dual-qualified lawyer (Italy and New York). He completed a PhD in public international law, label Doctor Europaeus, at the School of International Studies, University of Trento, holds an LLM from NYU School of Law, and read law at the University of Bologna.
Download or read book Standing Up for Justice written by Theodor Meron and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judge Theodor Meron addresses the key questions facing the international criminal justice system, drawing on two decades of experience as an international judge and a distinguished academic career. He provides insights into judicial independence and the principle of fairness in trying cases before international criminal courts and tribunals.
Download or read book Transitional Justice in Rwanda written by Gerald Gahima and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transitional Justice in Rwanda: Accountability for Atrocity comprehensively analyzes the full range of the transitional justice processes undertaken for the Rwandan genocide. Drawing on the author’s extensive professional experience as the principal justice policy maker and the leading law enforcement officer in Rwanda from 1996-2003, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the social, political and legal challenges faced by Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide and the aspirations and legacy of transitional justice. The book explores the role played by the accountability processes not just in pursuing accountability but also in shaping the reconstruction of Rwanda’s institutions of democratic governance and political reconciliation. Central to this exploration will be the examination of whether or not transitional justice in Rwanda has contributed to a foundational rule of law reform process. While recognizing the necessity of pursuing accountability for mass atrocity, the book argues that a maximal approach to accountability for genocide may undermine the promotion of core objectives of transitional justice. Taking on one of the key questions facing practitioners and scholars of transitional justice today, the book suggests that the pursuit of mass accountability, particularly where socio-economic resources and legal capacity is limited, may destabilize the process of rule of law reform, endangering core human rights norms. Moreover, the book suggests that pursuing a strategy of mass accountability may undermine the process of democratic transition, particularly in a context where impunity for crimes committed by the victors of armed conflicts persists. Highlighting the ongoing democratic deficit in Rwanda and resulting political instability in the Great Lakes region, the book argues that the effectiveness of transitional justice ultimately hinges on the nature and success of political transition.
Download or read book Justice for Atrocity Crimes written by Param-Preet Singh and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the important role national courts have in post-conflict countries in holding to account in fair trials the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Where there is national willingness to deliver justice but limited capacity, international support can be essential to bridge the gap. Based on research by Human Rights Watch in Bosnia in June 2011, this report highlights lessons from the temporary participation of international staff in the War Crimes Chamber in Bosnia and Herzegovina's State Court and in the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor's Office. These lessons may be especially relevant where international staff are deployed to bolster national authorities' capacity, independence, and impartiality. While the accomplishments of the chamber and the prosecutor's office are significant--the court has completed more than 200 cases in its seven years of operation--this model of providing international assistance to national justice has not been without flaws. The report concludes that policymakers, donors, and the Bosnian authorities failed to maximize the impact of international staff in the transfer of expertise in bringing cases to trial and institution building. If these shortcomings had been addressed earlier the chamber and the Prosecutor's Office could have been in a better position to withstand the increasingly volatile political climate in Bosnia. The report also discusses the importance of devising a realistic plan to phase out international staff and to engage public opinion through effective outreach to help create a climate that favors justice through fair trials. Finally, the report analyses some of the challenges of coordinating accountability efforts across multiple national courts and offers preliminary suggestions on how to overcome those challenges with the resources available."--P. [4] of cover.
Download or read book The Responsibility to Protect written by Gareth Evans and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Never again!" the world has vowed time and again since the Holocaust. Yet genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocity crimes continue to shock our consciences—from the killing fields of Cambodia to the machetes of Rwanda to the agony of Darfur. Gareth Evans has grappled with these issues firsthand. As Australian foreign minister, he was a key broker of the United Nations peace plan for Cambodia. As president of the International Crisis Group, he now works on the prevention and resolution of scores of conflicts and crises worldwide. The primary architect of and leading authority on the Responsibility to Protect ("R2P"), he shows here how this new international norm can once and for all prevent a return to the killing fields. The Responsibility to Protect captures a simple and powerful idea. The primary responsibility for protecting its own people from mass atrocity crimes lies with the state itself. State sovereignty implies responsibility, not a license to kill. But when a state is unwilling or unable to halt or avert such crimes, the wider international community then has a collective responsibility to take whatever action is necessary. R2P emphasizes preventive action above all. That includes assistance for states struggling to contain potential crises and for effective rebuilding after a crisis or conflict to tackle its underlying causes. R2P's primary tools are persuasion and support, not military or other coercion. But sometimes it is right to fight: faced with another Rwanda, the world cannot just stand by. R2P was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly at the 2005 World Summit. But many misunderstandings persist about its scope and limits. And much remains to be done to solidify political support and to build institutional capacity. Evans shows, compellingly, how big a break R2P represents from the past, and how, with its acceptance in principle and effective application in practice, the promise of "Never
Download or read book War Crimes written by David Chuter and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2003 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A nuanced discussion of why war crimes occur, what can be done to bring the perpetrators to justice, and the prospects of preventing such atrocities in the future.
Download or read book Mass Atrocity Crimes written by Robert I. Rotberg and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dozen scholars explore what can be done to combat genocide, ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity, which, despite grisly examples from the past century, continue to rear their ugly head today. Original.
Download or read book Victims Atrocity and International Criminal Justice written by Rachel Killean and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While international criminal courts have often been declared as bringing ‘justice’ to victims, their procedures and outcomes historically showed little reflection of the needs and interests of victims themselves. This situation has changed significantly over the last sixty years; victims are increasingly acknowledged as having various ‘rights’, while their need for justice has been deployed as a means of justifying the establishment of international criminal courts. However, it is arguable that the goals of political and legal elites continue to be given precedence, and the ability of courts to deliver ‘justice to victims’ remains contested. This book contributes to this important debate through an examination of the role of victims as civil parties within the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Drawing on a series of interviews with civil parties, court practitioners and civil society actors, the book explores the way in which both the ECCC and the role of victims within it are shaped by specific political, economic and legal contexts; examining the ‘gap’ between the legitimising value of the ‘imagined victim’, and the extent to which victims are able to further their interests within the courtroom.
Download or read book War Crimes Atrocity and Justice written by Michael J. Shapiro and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-12-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do we know about war crimes and justice? What are thediscursive practices through which the dominant images of warcrimes, atrocity and justice are understood? In this wide ranging text, Michael J. Shapiro contrasts thejustice-related imagery of the war crimes trial (for example thesolitary, headphone-wearing defendant at the Hague listening withintent to a catalogue of charges) with ?literary justice?:representations in literature, film, and biographical testimony,raising questions about atrocities and justice that juridicalproceedings exclude. By engaging with the ambiguities exposed by the artistic andexperiential genres, reading them alongside policy and archivaldocumentation and critical theoretical discourses, Shapiro?s WarCrimes, Atrocity, and Justice challenges traditional notions of?responsibility? in juridical settings. His comparative readingsinstead encourage a focus on the conditions of possibility for warcrimes as they arise from the actions of states, non-state agenciesand individuals involved in arms trading, peace keeping, sextrafficking, and law enforcement and adjudication. Theory springs to life as Shapiro draws on examples from legaldiscourse, literature, media, film, and television, to build anuanced picture of politics and the problem of justice. It will beof great interest to students of film and media, literature,cultural studies, contemporary philosophy and political science
Download or read book Justice in Conflict written by Mark Kersten and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when the international community simultaneously pursues peace and justice in response to ongoing conflicts? What are the effects of interventions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the wars in which the institution intervenes? Is holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable a help or hindrance to conflict resolution? This book offers an in-depth examination of the effects of interventions by the ICC on peace, justice and conflict processes. The 'peace versus justice' debate, wherein it is argued that the ICC has either positive or negative effects on 'peace', has spawned in response to the Court's propensity to intervene in conflicts as they still rage. This book is a response to, and a critical engagement with, this debate. Building on theoretical and analytical insights from the fields of conflict and peace studies, conflict resolution, and negotiation theory, the book develops a novel analytical framework to study the Court's effects on peace, justice, and conflict processes. This framework is applied to two cases: Libya and northern Uganda. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the core of the book examines the empirical effects of the ICC on each case. The book also examines why the ICC has the effects that it does, delineating the relationship between the interests of states that refer situations to the Court and the ICC's institutional interests, arguing that the negotiation of these interests determines which side of a conflict the ICC targets and thus its effects on peace, justice, and conflict processes. While the effects of the ICC's interventions are ultimately and inevitably mixed, the book makes a unique contribution to the empirical record on ICC interventions and presents a novel and sophisticated means of studying, analyzing, and understanding the effects of the Court's interventions in Libya, northern Uganda - and beyond.
Download or read book Essays on International Criminal Justice written by Héctor Olásolo and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-01-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crimes of atrocity have profound and long-lasting effects on any society. The difference between triggering and preventing these tragic crimes often amounts to the choice between national potential preserved or destroyed. It is also important to recognise that they are not inevitable: the commission of these crimes requires a collective effort, an organisational context, and long planning and preparation. Thus, the idea of strengthening preventative action has taken on greater relevance, and is now encompassed in the emerging notion of 'responsibility to prevent'. International courts and tribunals contribute to this effort by ending impunity for past crimes. Focusing investigations and prosecution on the highest leadership maximises the impact of this contribution. The ICC has an additional preventative mandate which is fulfilled by its timely intervention in the form of preliminary examinations. Moreover, when situations of atrocity crimes are triggered, its complementarity regime incentivises states to stop violence and comply with their duties to investigate and prosecute, thus strengthening the rule of law at the national level. The new role granted to victims by the Rome Statute is key to the ICC ́s successful fulfilment of these functions. This new book of essays, which includes the author's unpublished inaugural lecture at Utrecht University, examines these issues and places particular emphasis on the additional preventative mandate of the ICC, the ICC complementarity regime, the new role granted to victims, and the prosecution of the highest leadership through the notion of indirect perpetration. 'The work of Professor Olasolo breaks new ground in the academic field of international criminal law, as an analysis of the system as a whole. I therefore wish to express my congratulations for this work.' From the Foreword by Luis Moreno Ocampo Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, 27 April 2011 '[Professor Hector Olasolo's] compilation provides an enormous source of easy reference to students, academia and legal actors in the field of international law. A look at the titles compiled in this volume demonstrates the present challenges to international criminal justice'. From the Preliminary Reflections by Elizabeth Odio Benito Judge and Former Vice-President, International Criminal Court, The Hague, May 2011 'This collection, written by a brilliant and prolific scholar and practitioner of international criminal justice, is an insightful and important contribution to the existing literature...Each chapter in this collection is copiously footnoted and thoroughly researched, making it an important reference tool for scholars and practitioners in the field. Additionally and importantly, the chapters explore, without polemic, areas of controversy and dissent and thoughtfully and scrupulously set forth arguments for and against particular doctrinal choices.' From the Introduction by Leila Nadya Sadat Henry H Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director, Whitney R Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law; Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, Spring 2011
Download or read book Translating Guilt written by Cassandra Steer and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-02-26 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to understand how and why we should hold leaders responsible for the collective mass atrocities that are committed in times of conflict. It attempts to untangle the debates on modes of liability in international criminal law (ICL) that have become truly complex over the last twenty years, and to provide a way to identify the most appropriate model for leadership liability. A unique comparative theory of ICL is offered, which clarifies the way in which ICL develops as a patchwork of different domestic criminal law notions. This theory forms the basis for the comparison of some influential domestic criminal law systems, with a view to understanding the policy and cultural reasons for their differences. There is a particular focus on the background of the German law which has influenced the International Criminal Court so much recently. This helps to understand, and seek a solution to, the current impasses in the debates on which model of liability should be applied. An entire chapter of the book is devoted to considering why leaders should be held responsible for crimes committed by their subordinates, from legal, moral and pragmatic perspectives. The moral responsibility of leaders is translated into criminal liability, and the different domestic models of liability are translated to the international context, in such a way as to appeal to advanced students of ICL, academics, and practitioners who want to understand the complexities of leadership liability in international criminal law today and identify the best way to approach it. Cassandra Steer is Executive Director of Women in International Security Canada, and Junior Wainwright Fellow at McGill University, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Download or read book The Justice Dilemma written by Daniel Krcmaric and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abusive leaders are now held accountable for their crimes in a way that was unimaginable just a few decades ago. What are the consequences of this recent push for international justice? In The Justice Dilemma, Daniel Krcmaric explains why the "golden parachute" of exile is no longer an attractive retirement option for oppressive rulers. He argues that this is both a blessing and a curse: leaders culpable for atrocity crimes fight longer civil wars because they lack good exit options, but the threat of international prosecution deters some leaders from committing atrocities in the first place. The Justice Dilemma therefore diagnoses an inherent tension between conflict resolution and atrocity prevention, two of the signature goals of the international community. Krcmaric also sheds light on several important puzzles in world politics. Why do some rulers choose to fight until they are killed or captured? Why not simply save oneself by going into exile? Why do some civil conflicts last so much longer than others? Why has state-sponsored violence against civilians fallen in recent years? While exploring these questions, Krcmaric marshals statistical evidence on patterns of exile, civil war duration, and mass atrocity onset. He also reconstructs the decision-making processes of embattled leaders—including Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Charles Taylor of Liberia, and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso—to show how contemporary international justice both deters atrocities and prolongs conflicts.
