I have to admit, I've been very surprised by the negative reactions I've received concerning my belief that the ICC should not have expressed regret or apologized to Libya for Melinda Taylor's (alleged) misconduct. It seems that most people -- or at least most of the people who have emailed me -- think that the Court should have done anything...
In my previous post, I noted that Libya's representative to the ICC unequivocally acknowledged that Libyan courts could not prosecute Taylor for the alleged misconduct that led to her detention. Apparently, not all Libyan officials are on the same page; witness what a "senior member of the Libyan attorney-general's office" told the BBC earlier today about Taylor and the others: "They...
The Australian media is reporting that Melinda Taylor is heading home, having being illegally detained by the Libyan government for 25 days. That is fantastic news -- and for Taylor and her family, it does not matter why she is free. Institutionally, however, the reason for her release matters a great deal. So it is very important to note that,...
An excellent new report by the Guardian contains a number of interesting tidbits. To begin with, the report confirms that Taylor -- like her erstwhile client -- is being held by the Zintan rebels, not by the Libyan government, and that the relationship between the two is strained: Even if the NTC decides to release Melinda Taylor, it will face the...
I obviously disagreed with the ICC's decision to issue the non-apology apology, but I sincerely hoped that it would at least lead to Taylor's release. Unfortunately, Libya has given no indication that, having suitably humiliated both the Court and Bob Carr, it has any intention of releasing her: Carr said Friday’s talks in the Hague between the ICC and Libyan authorities...
As Mark Kersten has already ably discussed at Justice in Conflict, the ICC released a statement yesterday regarding Melinda Taylor's detention. Ironically, although I think everything about the statement is profoundly devastating to the Court's credibility, I am actually slightly less bothered than Mark by the "regret" section of the statement: The ICC deeply regrets any events that may have given...
According to The Guardian, Libya is now interrogating Taylor and intends to prosecute her for violations of “national security” (read: doing her job and defending Saif) even if the ICC apologizes: Tripoli said on Wednesday night that Taylor, one of four ICC officers who were on an official visit to Libya, had tried to deliver documents to Saif that were not...
At Justice in Conflict, Mark Kersten is keeping track of developments concerning Taylor's detention. Checking out some of his links, I was struck (not for the first time, of course) by how little the media knows about how the ICC works -- and by their willingness to think the worst of criminal defense attorneys, even in the absence of any...
So, you're Bob Carr, Australia's Foreign Minister. You've decided you want to free Melinda Taylor, ICC lawyer, detained and imprisoned by the Libyan government. You fly to Libya to meet with government officials. Do you demand Taylor's immediate release, citing the cooperation provisions of SC Res. 1970? Do you remind the officials that their consistent refusal to allow Saif legal...
In early May I discussed the OPCD's motion to disqualify Moreno-Ocampo for making a number of inflammatory statements to the press concerning Saif Gaddafi's guilt. On June 12, just four days before the end of Moreno-Ocampo's tenure as prosecutor, the Appeals Chamber rejected the motion -- but not without emphasizing that he had, in fact, acted unethically. The decision focused...
It will not come as a surprise to regular readers that I am appalled by Libya's detention of Melinda Taylor, a lawyer with the ICC's Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, and her translator. There is no evidence that Taylor has done anything wrong; indeed, as Mark Kersten notes, it seems eminently possible that her detention is simply a...
[Dov Jacobs is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Leiden University. He can be followed on his blog, Spreading the Jam] On the 30th of May, the SCSL sentenced Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison. The sentencing judgment raises a number of interesting issues. Some commentators, such as William Schabas, or on this blog, Marina Aksenova, have discussed the...
