This book provides a comprehensive explanation of what the right to a fair trial means in practice under international law. Focus on factual scenarios that practitioners may, it brings together sources and cases that define the right to a fair trial in criminal proceedings.
In The Right to Be Present at Trial in International Criminal Law Caleb H. Wheeler analyses what it means for the accused to be present during international criminal trials and how that meaning has changed. This book also examines the impact that absence from trial can have on the fair trial rights of the accused and whether those rights can be upheld outside of the accused’s presence. Using primary and secondary sources, Caleb Wheeler has identified four different categories of absence and how each affects the right to be present. This permits a more nuanced understanding of how the right to be present is understood in international criminal law and how it may develop in the future.
In 2018, the State of Israel turned 70, but it has never been fully accepted as a member of the international community. Notwithstanding peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, conflict between Israel and some of its neighbors in the region is looming. And peace between Israel and the Palestinians seems as far away as ever. Why?Since the 1970's, the idea has developed that international law requires resolution of the Arab/Israeli conflict by creating a State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, and borders based on the "1967 lines" - the so-called "two-state solution". Israeli settlements are regarded by many as illegal and an impediment to this solution.This book reviews international law regarding self-determination, statehood, territorial sovereignty, human rights and the right to self-defense. It argues that the two-state solution as defined by the UN is not required by international law.The authors examine how international law has been used and misused over the last century with regard to the Arab/Israeli conflict. They argue that the historical context of the creation of the State of Israel, especially the Mandate for Palestine, is too often ignored.The Arab states, the Palestinian leadership and the European Union have all played a role in enabling the UN to become a platform for lawfare against Israel: policies and resolutions that use the language of international law but, in fact, undermine the existence of the Jewish State and have disputable basis in international law. Lawfare is problematic because it undermines the international legal order itself.It is time to revisit the prevailing legal paradigm to resolve the conflict. This book aims to provide a legal framework for the exploration of alternative policy solutions that balance the rights of the Jewish State of Israel to territorial integrity, security and political independence with the rights of Palestinian Arabs to political autonomy, and economic and social advancement.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has run into serious problems with its first big case -- the situation in northern Uganda. There is no doubt that appalling crimes have occurred here. Over a million people have been forced to live in overcrowded displacement camps under the control of the Ugandan army. Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army has abducted thousands, many of them children and has systematically tortured, raped, maimed and killed. Nevertheless, the ICC has confronted outright hostility from a wide range of groups, including traditional leaders, representatives of the Christian Churches and non-governmental organizations. Even the Ugandan government, which invited the court to become involved, has been expressing serious reservations. Tim Allen assesses the controversy. While recognizing the difficulties involved, he shows that much of the antipathy towards the ICC's intervention is misplaced. He also draws out important wider implications of what has happened. Criminal justice sets limits to compromise and undermines established procedures of negotiation with perpetrators of violence. Events in Uganda have far reaching implications for other war zones - and not only in Africa. Amnesties and peace talks may never be quite the same again.
From renowned scholar William A. Schabas, this title sheds light on perhaps the most important international trial that never was: that of Kaiser Wilhelm II following the First World War. Schabas draws on numerous primary sources hitherto unexamined in published work, to craft a history of the very beginnings of international criminal justice.
This 2003 collection of essays is based on five lectures organized jointly by Matrix Chambers of human rights lawyers and the Wiener Library between April and June 2002. Presented by leading experts in the field, this fascinating collection of papers examines the evolution of international criminal justice from its post World War II origins at Nuremberg through to the concrete proliferation of courts and tribunals with international criminal law jurisdictions based at The Hague today. Original and provocative, the lectures provide various stimulating perspectives on the subject of international criminal law. Topics include its corporate and historical dimension as well as a discussion of the International Criminal Court Statute and the role of the national courts. The volume offers a challenging insight into the future of international criminal legal system. This is an intelligent and thought-provoking book, accessible to anyone interested in international criminal law, from specialists to non-specialists alike.
The book sets out in-depth studies of consensual case dispositions in the UK, examining how plea bargaining has developed and spread in England and Wales. It also goes on to discusses in detail the problems that this practise poses for the rule of law by avoiding procedural safe-guards. The book draws on empirical research in its examination of the absence of informal settlements in the former GDR, offering a unique insight into criminal procedure in a socialist legal system that has been little studied.
This work brings together the complete travaux to Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In doing so, it contributes to a thorough and informed understanding of the right to a fair trial, the world's most litigated human right.
This book approaches the question of whether or not the court procedure at the International Criminal Court (ICC) can be regarded as fair from two angles: First, does the ICC provide a fair trial according to the accepted standards of international human rights law? Secondly, is it substantively fair so as to establish the legitimacy of the court on a sound footing? Practitioners and academics are increasingly conscious of the need for an approach to evidence which spans civil law and common law traditions, national and international law. This is what this monograph does, in meticulous detail, for the law of confrontation and disclosure.