Sergei Magnitsky

Absurdity and Abuse: European Court of Human Rights Finds Russia Violated Magnitsky's Rights

The decision of the European Court reflects existing jurisprudence and is not particularly novel in its conclusions or interpretations of Convention articles. Rather, this case is notable because its facts spawned laws in various countries that now target the property of foreign nationals who have committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. The case is also a chilling illustration of how laws and due process institutions can be manipulated by government officials in an effort to cloak with legitimacy clear violations of human rights.
The Judges of the International Criminal Court Teaser

ICC Moot Court Competition 2019: Mooting Whether Humanitarian Intervention Comes Within the Frame of the Crime of Aggression

Are all wars aggressive? Or are some just? What does it mean for a state to wage a just war, and how do we punish those who wage aggressive wars? These are questions that the international community continues to wrestle with. On July 17, 2018, new light was shed on this distinction when the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally acquired jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. Both the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals, created after World War II, had jurisdiction to hold individuals criminally responsible for the aggressive military policies of the Japanese and German regimes. Nonetheless, international consensus on the definition of the crime of aggression has proven elusive for half a century. This disagreement over the crime of aggression was a major obstacle to the formation of the ICC in 2002. It took a further eight years before the Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute were adopted, and an additional eight years before these amendments came into force, creating a definition of the crime of aggression for the Rome Statute of the ICC.
Scorched vehicles

PART III: Crimes Against Humanity in Cameroon

This is the third and final article in the Global Justice Journal series on the crisis in Cameroon. Part I of the series, Cameroon’s Unfolding-Catastrophe: Contextualizing The Crisis (June 17, 2019) provided the background ongoing conflict in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, drawing on the ground-breaking report launched by the Centre for Human rights and Democracy in Africa and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre in June 2019 entitled Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe: Evidence of Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity (June 3, 2019)
International Criminal Court

An Interview with Errol Mendes about his Book “Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court, a Court of Last Resort”, Second Edition

One of our editors, Joseph Rikhof, posed some questions to Professor Errol Mendes re his book “Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court, a Court of Last Resort”, Second Edition
Free Gaza movement

Comoros referral: The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court gives guidance to the Prosecutor

On September 2, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered the Prosecutor (OTP) to review the decision not to proceed with an investigation of a situation referred to it by the Union of Comoros concerning the May 31, 2010 Israeli raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip on the grounds of ‘insufficient gravity’ (here) with a partial dissent (here).
Bosco Ntaganda

How Bosco Ntaganda was convicted as an “indirect co-perpetrator” in eighteen crimes

Bosco Ntaganda was found guilty of 18 crimes against humanity and war crimes by a Trial Chamber of the International Court of Justice (ICC) on July 8, 2019 (here). He was convicted as a direct perpetrator in three crimes as well as an indirect co-perpetrator in those three and the 15 other crimes. This article will explore how the Trial Chamber applied the nascent law of ‘indirect co-perpetration’.
Soviet Tank

Book Review: Payam Akhavan Interviews Noah Weisbord About his Book “The Crime of Aggression: The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats.”

On 15 December 2017, States Parties to the Rome Statute, meeting in New York, agreed to activate the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. For the first time since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, it will be possible to hold leaders individually responsible for waging wars of aggression. Professor Noah Weisbord is a (if not the) leading authority on the crime of aggression under international law.
Burning of Munyenge

Serious Human Rights Violations in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon PART II: Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe: Contextualizing the Crisis

This article is Part II of the series, examining human rights violations that have taken place in the Anglophone regions of the country. Section I starts with a focus on the emblematic violations perpetrated against English-speaking Cameroonians that have taken place. Section II analyses the applicable human rights norms.
ICTY court room

Reconciliation or Betrayal? A Comparative Analysis of Domestic and International Plea Bargaining

This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of plea bargaining in both domestic common law systems and in international criminal law. Although plea bargaining is a flawed practice, it would be unrealistic and unwise to abolish plea bargaining entirely. A more balanced approach would be for domestic and international systems to reduce and supplement plea bargaining in creative ways.
Saudi forces take part in military exercises during a visit by Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah at the Saudi-led coalition military base in Yemen’s southern embattled city of Aden

Scrutinizing the International Weapons Trade

On June 20, 2019, in Campaign Against Arms Trade, R (On the Application Of) v The Secretary of State for International Trade (CAAT) the Court of Appeal for England and Wales held that the UK government unlawfully granted export licenses for military equipment sold to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the armed conflict in Yemen. According to the Court, the British government failed to make the necessary detailed inquiries into potential breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHR) and so acted irrationally.
German troops marching through warsaw

The Crime of Aggression: A Political Compromise Resulting in an Ambiguous and Complex State of the Law

The Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute activated the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the crime of aggression at its 16th Assembly on December 14, 2017 effective on the 17th of July 2018, exactly 20 years to the date on which the Rome Statute was adopted.
Western Burma

The Evolution of Forced Displacement in International Criminal Law

This article examines how the evolution of jurisprudence can affect the role international criminal law plays in ensuring human rights protection for forcibly displaced persons. It argues that the increasing number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide requires a stronger effort towards international attention to the crime of forced displacement. The article first provides a contextual background to the crime of forced displacement, most notably the distinction between deportation and forcible transfer. Then it outlines how, amid recent developments in the scope of the crime, placing equal weight on deportations across state borders and the coerced movement of people within a state is crucial in pursuit of international criminal justice.
Cameroonian soldiers are routinely accused of mistreating civilians and suspects

Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe: Contextualizing the Crisis

The Anglophone regions of Cameroon, home to most English-speaking Cameroonians, are experiencing what is now being recognized as one of the most serious and yet underreported human rights crises in the world. While there have been disputes and conflicts in the Anglophone South West and North West regions of Cameroon for decades, a recent and sharp escalation of serious violence and crime has pushed the conflict to the brink of civil war.
Collage of pictures

No Investigation in Afghanistan

On April 12, 2019, Pre-Trial Chambers II released its decision denying the request of the Prosecutor for authorization to investigate the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  The decision of the Chambers is interesting not only because it carefully sets out the criteria for authorization of an investigation, but also provides extensive reasoning for rejecting a request under article 15 of the Rome Statute in the interests of justice.
European Court of human rights

THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMES

Recently, this journal discussed the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with respect to the international crime of genocide (Regime Change May Allow Prosecution of a Former Oppressive Regime’s Enforcers for Genocide). This article will discuss seven other decisions, which address various aspects of other international crimes, namely torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity and which have resonated in decisions by the specialized institutions mandated to examine such crimes, such as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).