In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Is It Time to Create a Standing Independent Investigative Mechanism (SIIM)? Part I

10 Apr

[Kingsley Abbott is the International Commission of Jurists' Senior Legal Adviser for Global Redress and Accountability & Saman Zia-Zarifi is the Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists. This is the first part of a two-part post.] Introduction The International Independent Investigative Mechanism for Syria and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar are recent examples of States responding to situations where...

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10 Apr

[Christopher “Kip” Hale currently serves a legal advisor on atrocity crime investigations in conflict zones. Previously, Kip has worked at the American Bar Association, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the UN-International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Santiago Vargas Niño is a Legal Officer at the Tribunal for Peace of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, Colombia. The...

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09 Apr

At a time when the International Criminal Court is facing significant challenges, many are questioning the trajectory of the global international criminal justice project. However, universal jurisdiction presents refreshed avenues for justice, particularly in the case of the atrocities committed in Liberia during the civil war in 1989-2003. Last week, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General announced that former United...

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08 Apr

[Victor Kattan is a Senior Research Fellow of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore where he heads the Transsystemic Law Cluster. He is also an Associate Fellow of NUS Law. This is the second part of a two-part post.] To understand how the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) could make a sovereignty claim before 1967, we need to rewind the clock to the last...

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08 Apr

[Victor Kattan is a Senior Research Fellow of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore where he heads the Transsystemic Law Cluster. He is also an Associate Fellow of NUS Law. This is the first part of a two-part post.]  One of the concerns that arose from US President Donald Trump’s Proclamation recognising the occupied Golan Heights – captured from Syria in the June...

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07 Apr

Events The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law will hold the ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum on 17-18 May 2019 at Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei, Taiwan. The theme of the Research Forum is “International Law and Emerging Powers: New Policy Challenges in the Asia-Pacific.” The Research Forum will feature two keynote speakers: Dr Christopher Ward SC, President of...

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02 Apr

Events The International Bar Association (IBA) is pleased to announce a conference on "The Next Big Questions for International Criminal Justice." This conference, presented by the IBA War Crimes Committee, will be held at the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands on 13 April 2019. Topics include: corporate accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; private actors and investigations –...

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01 Apr

Well, that was predictable. The Ntaganda defence has filed two motions relating to the news that the ICC's judges have permitted Judge Ozaki to simultaneously serve as a judge in the case and as Japan's ambassador to Estonia. The first, directed to the Presidency, is styled "Request for Disclosure Concerning the Decision of the Plenary of Judges on the Judicial Independence...

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29 Mar

This is truly scandalous -- even by the ICC's standards. Thomas Verfuss explains: The Hague Judge Kuniko Ozaki wants to leave her position as a full-time judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to become the ambassador of Japan in Estonia in April. Her departure from fulltime engagement at the ICC comes before she and two of her colleagues...

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29 Mar

[Kruthi Venkatesh is a lawyer practising in Mumbai, India.] In recent years, there has been a lot of debate on investor accountability for human rights abuses, especially in relation to cross-border trade and investment agreements. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UN Guiding Principles”) has been a guiding force for this discourse. With increase in foreign investments in...

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28 Mar

[Mark Ellis is Executive Director of the International Bar Association, London.] On March 24, 2016, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”) convicted Radovan Karadžić of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war. Almost exactly three years later, on March 20, 2019, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals...

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