International Criminal Law

Call for Papers Second call for inputs: report on the role of PMSCs in humanitarian action: Twice a year, the United Nations (UN) Office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Working Group (WG) on the use of mercenaries issues calls for inputs to inform its thematic studies to be presented at the Human Rights Council in...

[Konstantina Stavrou is a researcher and PhD candidate at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights in Vienna.] Introduction Seventy-five years after the initiation of the first international criminal trials for the atrocities committed amid the Second World War, the fight against impunity continues. Over recent years, core international crimes, encompassing genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression, are being perpetrated across the globe,...

Call for Papers Call for inputs: UN OHCHR Working Group on the use of mercenaries: Twice a year, the United Nations (UN) Office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Working Group (WG) on the use of mercenaries issues calls for inputs to inform its thematic studies to be presented at the Human Rights Council in its...

[Alessandro Pizzuti is co-founder of UpRights. Prior to forming UpRights, Alessandro worked as legal officer at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as well as International Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and International Tribunal for Rwanda. The author would like to thank Valerie Gabard and Asa Solway for their help and suggestions for this post.] This post considers the Prosecutor’s recent separate...

Featured Announcement BIICL Training Courses Spring 2021 The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) now offers training courses in a virtual format. BIICL virtual courses are led by the Institute's leading researchers, together with external experts and distinguished practitioners. The course format consists of a series of sessions in which live teaching is offered via Zoom. Participants are able to...

Events Webinar on ‘State of Emergency and Immigration Detention: The Grey Areas of the Right to Liberty’: Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Bologna in collaboration with ‘Beyond Detention’ Research Unit' are convening a webinar on Tuesday, 26 January 2021 at 3 pm London time (4 pm CET or 10 am EST). The Webinar brings together international judges (Ksenija Turković,...

Six important African NGOs have sent a letter to the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties offering their enthusiastic endorsement of Karim Khan's candidacy for ICC Prosecutor. The signatories are Club des Amis du droit du Congo (DRC); Ligue pour la paix, les droits de l’homme et la justice (DRC), Bureau d’études et de réflexions pour le bien être...

On New Year's Eve, the Trial Chamber overseeing the Al Hassan case referred Hassan's lead defence counsel, Melinda Taylor, to the Registry for violating the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel. That referral will trigger an investigation by a Disciplinary Commissioner into Taylor's actions. The Trial Chamber's referral stems from a tweet that Taylor posted the day before Christmas concerning her...

[Dov Jacobs, Joshua Kern and Daniel Reisner appear as amici curiae on behalf of the IJL in the ongoing proceedings before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC in the Situation in Palestine. The IJL Brief before PTC I is available here. The Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision remains sub iudice.] On 19 November 2020, it was reported that the Palestinian Authority will resume civil and...

[Yuzuki Nagakoshi is a Visiting Professional at the International Criminal Court.] The most recent revision of court rules on third-party interventions at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“the Court” “ACtHPR”) may greatly impact the fate of African indigenous communities. Through this revision, not only interested State Parties but also interested non-State actors can request to intervene in ongoing proceedings based on Rule 61...

[Owiso Owiso is a Doctoral Researcher in Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg and a member of the PhD Academy of the Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre, VU Amsterdam.]  Continuing the discussion in Part I, this final part examines the comparative basis upon which the Judicial Remuneration Panel made its conclusions and recommendations. The ICJ and European judges as comparators...

[Owiso Owiso is a Doctoral Researcher in Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg and a member of the PhD Academy of the Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre, VU Amsterdam.]  The Judges’ claim On 07 December 2020, the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILOAT) dismissed a (consolidated) complaint that had been filed by some full-time judges at the International Criminal...