Search: Complementarity SAIF GADDAFI

...pointed out, the ICC has nothing to gain by considering Libya’s admissibility challenge regarding Saif, because Libya has indicated that it has no intention of complying with an adverse decision. The same problem exists even more acutely in situations in which multiple states challenge admissibility, as permitted by Article 19. It makes no sense for the ICC to risk alienating member-states by resolving competing admissibility challenges when the custodial state will simply refuse to extradite the suspect should the ICC give the other state priority to prosecute. That is not...

...hearings. On the US-ICC relationship, Julian ventured that a cultural change is required if it is to blossom into a love affair. More news from the ICC came from Kevin, who worried that a funding crisis was behind the OPCD’s request to withdraw from the Saif Gaddafi case, and the Pre-Trial Chamber’s approval of a new lawyer. Finally, Kevin corrected an old post on whether Bill Keller of the NYTimes can be charged with aiding and abetting the enemy like Bradley Manning. As always, we listed events and announcements that...

...Kevin argued last week that the ICC’s OTP committed a serious legal error when it argued that even an in absentia trial would mean that Libya’s admissibility challenge of the case against Saif Gaddafi could pass. It is no surprise then that Kevin was happy to see the OTP retract its submission this week. Kevin also recommended Jens Ohlin’s new article on “Targeting and the Concept of Intent“. Kristen put the spotlight on International Peace Institute’s recent recommendation to give the African Union a bigger role in transitional justice issues...

This week on Opinio Juris, Julian noticed the apparent truce between the American right and the ICC, but didn’t go as far as calling it peace. Further on the ICC, Kevin pointed out a flagrant mistake at the Washington Times, and argued that the OTP was wrong in concluding that Libya is able to try Saif Gaddafi, because the Rome Statute does not consider a trial in absentia to meet that standard. Talking about criminal prosecutions, Peggy asked whether Pope Benedict XVI could be sued in the child sex abuse...

...say, has one of the world’s best international-law practices. (And excels in many other areas, such as criminal law.) Its roster of barristers includes such luminaries as: Geoffrey Robertson QC — one of the founders of the set, who needs no introduction to OJ readers. Sir Keir Starmer, KCB, QC — the former Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, currently serving as Croatia’s counsel at the ICJ in Croatia v Serbia. John R.W.D. Jones QC — counsel for Saif Gaddafi at the ICC and Mustafa...

...the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision that article 95 of the ICC Statute applies to requests for surrender, and it was not only because they did not agree with him on this point. Later in the week, he was more positive about the OTP’s response to Libya’s challenge to the admissibility of the cases against Saif Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi. Further on international criminal law issues, Marina Aksenova argued in a guest post why Charles Taylor’s sentence is adequate. Kevin congratulated the Chief International Co-Prosecutor of the ECCC, Andrew Cayley, on...

The Falkland Islands are set to hold a referendum about sovereignty. IntLawGrrls points to interesting issues arising around citizenship and globalization. The ICC Prosecutor seeks a 30-year sentence for Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, convicted of conscripting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In other ICC news, a team from the Court has visited the four detained staff members in Libya, accused of smuggling documents to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has transferred its fifth case to domestic authorities. The UN Security Council has passed...

This is a major development, one that I hope does not get lost in the welter of commentary on the Bemba acquittal. If you recall, in June 2012 the Libyan government detained four ICC officials who were in Zintan on official Court business: Melinda Taylor from the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD), who had been provisionally appointed Saif Gaddafi’s defence counsel; two officials from the Registry; and a translator, Helene Assaf. Libya charged all four with various criminal offences and ultimately detained them for 27 days. About...

Libya will challenge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in order to try him on Libyan soil. Mark Kersten at Justice in Conflict has more analysis about the battle of where the trial will be held. Police in Sierra Leone have arrested an investigator employed by former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s defense team on charges he attempted to bribe prosecution witnesses to recant their testimony during Taylor’s war crimes trial. Nigerian soldiers have shot more than 30 civilians dead in the northeastern Nigerian city of...

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has appeared in a court for the first time since his capture last year, in the western town of Zintan, where he is facing charges related to a visit by an ICC lawyer last year. Jurist has more here. US and ECOWAS troops will support France’s mission in Mali. Armed Groups in International Law has an insightful post on the French intervention in Mali and Additional Protocol II. African Union peacekeepers trying to dislodge Islamist rebels from Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region shot dead at least seven civilians...

...A drone strike in eastern Yemen has killed at least five people in the first such raid since the army launched an offensive against al-Qaeda-linked fighters last month. At least 40 people have died and 51 have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off Libya’s coast. Libya’s interim interior minister has warned that Tripoli could “facilitate” the passage of those people seeking to get to Europe illegally unless the European Union (EU) helps it combat the problem. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has appeared via videolink at a court in...

...European Parliament has included the punk band on its list of finalists for the annual Sakharov human rights prize. Scotland will hold an independence referendum in 2014, according to a British government minister, whereas Spain’s parliament voted yesterday to block Catalonia’s bid for sovereignty. Russia has signed a $4.2 billion arms deal with Iraq, making it the largest arms provider to the Middle East after the United States. Libyan government lawyers promised yesterday at a hearing at the ICC that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will get a fair trial in Libya....