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.
Armored tank

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).
Khieu Samphan on trial

The Legality of the charges against Khmer Rouge leaders

On March 27, 2019 the Trial Chambers of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia released its long-awaited full reasons for the conviction in Trial 002/02 of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan on November 16, 2018, who were leaders in the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 for crimes against humanity, war crimes, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and genocide.
International Criminal Court in The Hague

“TRIED BY ANOTHER COURT” IN THE CONTEXT OF ADMISSIBILITY CHALLENGES: The Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi

This article summarizes an April 5, 2019 decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, whereby Gaddafi challenged the admissibility of the case brought against him for crimes against humanity. 
Former KGB building in Vilnius, including names of partisans lost, author, Bernt Rostad, Oslo, no changes made to pictures Creative Commons

Regime Change May Allow Prosecution of a Former Oppressive Regime’s Enforcers for Genocide

In Drelingas v. Lithuania (Drelingas) released March 12, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), held that a former KGB officer could be convicted of genocide where he had been involved in the killing of the leader of the Lithuanian partisan movement and the deportation of the leader’s wife in 1956 when Lithuania was under Soviet rule.
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland

International Crimes : Spotlight on Switzerland’s war crimes unit

Switzerland’s war crimes unit was set up in 2012, following a change in the law the previous year that transferred responsibility for prosecuting international crimes from military to civil judicial authorities. But seven years on, it has not brought any cases to trial, despite receiving dozens of complaints. Swiss authorities have been criticized for not giving this unit the necessary resources, and for alleged political interference in sensitive cases.