Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
28 Jul Nicaragua: Can International Law Break the Cycle of Impunity?
in Nicaragua. International Justice Options Available to Nicaragua In light of the deteriorating situation, it is essential to consider legal avenues that could allow international accountability for crimes committed in Nicaragua. Article 41 of the Articles on State Responsibility for Internationally Wrongful Acts provides a foundation for states to cooperate in ending serious breaches of peremptory norms, and several mechanisms under international law may offer viable paths to justice. A. International Court of Justice (ICJ) The ICJ could serve as a forum for adjudicating Nicaragua’s state responsibility for breaches of...
23 Nov The Revival of Criminal Prosecution of Francoism Crimes in Spain: A New Opportunity for Hope?
...with the Argentine courts. Both the societal and global response to the pacto del olvido and the lack of criminal proceedings encouraged the implementation of alternative transitional justice measures and the enactment of state and regional legislation advancing the principles of truth, reparations and accountability – among them, two national Memory Acts. The first one, the Historical Memory Act 52/2007 of 2007, made relevant progress by explicitly acknowledging the unjust nature of all convictions, sanctions and violence based on political, ideological, or religious grounds during the Civil War or the...
26 May Symposium on Advancing Effective and Comprehensive Reparation for Victims of the War in Ukraine: Towards Effective and Comprehensive Reparations in Ukraine – A Survivor-Led Perspective from The Gambia
[Sirra Ndow is Country Director of ANEKED (The Gambia). ANEKED is a victim/survivor-led organisation advancing transitional justice, reparations, and human rights advocacy through survivor-centred initiatives, and contributes to global narratives on reparative justice from a survivor perspective] Too often, reparations processes focus on compensation, prosecutions, and institutional reforms while neglecting the lived experiences, dignity, and recognition of victims. In doing so, they risk reproducing a textbook model of justice: solid on paper, but hollow in substance. As efforts to operationalise reparations for victims of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine begin to take shape,...31 Dec The NDAA: The Good, the Bad, and the Laws of War–Part II
...since “it is the firm position of the Obama Administration that suspected terrorists arrested inside the United States will—in keeping with long-standing tradition—be processed through our Article III courts, as they should be,” and that “when it comes to U.S. citizens involved in terrorist-related activity, whether they are captured overseas or at home, we will prosecute them in our criminal justice system.” As the President reiterated today, “my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with...
09 Feb Guilty on 61 Counts – What the Ongwen Verdict Indicates about the Limitations of Individual Criminal Responsibility for Mass Atrocities
...assessing individual criminal responsibility at the Court and raise questions about the implications thereof for international criminal justice. Collective crimes, individual responsibility International criminal justice is concerned with the ‘most serious’ crimes and with the ‘most responsible’ individuals that stand behind those crimes. The Nuremberg tribunal was established to try the ‘major war criminals’ of the European Axis. Similarly, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)’s completion strategy envisioned that ‘the most senior leaders suspected of being most responsible’ for the crimes in the Former Yugoslavia would be...
21 Apr Is Russia Committing Genocide in Ukraine?
...in a peace settlement that will ultimately save lives requires ceding painful concessions to that villain’s power, especially when the concession is justice. And, yet, we know that true peace is never really achieved without justice. It is possible that meaningful justice is not found in the actual legal judgements of tribunals, anyway, but the many social processes and political institutions that courts create a space for in the aftermaths of atrocities. And, for that matter, any sense of justice that victims and survivors gain from tribunals usually does not have much to do...
03 Oct Symposium on Advisory Opinion AO-32/25 on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights: The Right to a Healthy Environment and State Obligations in Times of Climate Emergency
where regressive measures on environmental and climate issues are proliferating. Furthermore, by linking the fight against poverty and inequality with sustainability (para. 375), the Court places the interdependence between social justice and environmental justice at the center of the debate, a relationship that States often try to separate within their agendas. Thus, the standard set in this ruling requires a rethinking of public policy frameworks from a holistic perspective, in which backsliding on sustainability simultaneously implies a violation of the right to a healthy environment (para. 376). Critical Perspectives on...
08 Apr ICC Prosecutor Symposium: The Chief Prosecutor: Diplomat, Politician, Leader, Manager, and Lawyer
...the byzantine administrative and personnel rules that is so much of the UN management system did not apply to us. The UN is simply incapable of administering international justice in an effective and efficient manner. Because the Special Court was not tied to these archaic management principles we were able to move fast, with less cost, with a lean dedicated team of people not focused on a UN career (where initiative can be frowned on) but on seeking justice for victims of international crimes. Alas, the International Criminal Court has...03 Dec Events and Announcements: 3 December 2023
...limited so register here to claim your spot! Decolonizing International Justice: Strategies Towards Structural Justice for Slavery and Colonial Crimes: On the occasion of the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mexico and Argentina, the Emergent Justice Collective, UN Women, Human Rights Watch, Justice Rapid Response, Promise Institute at UCLA Law and the Center for Justice and Accountability are pleased to invite you to this side event on 5 December...04 Nov Complementarity in Crisis: Uganda, Alternative Justice, and the International Criminal Court
with broad policy discretion to approve or disapprove domestic transitional justice policies without the assistance of meaningful legal standards, then justifying the ICC becomes a more difficult proposition. My Article takes up this problem through a focused analysis of the ICC’s response to the Ugandan peace process. My three principal claims are as follows: first, the Rome Statute does not, in fact, provide meaningful guidance to the Court as it navigates the particular dilemmas of transitional justice in Uganda. Second, the development of ex ante guidelines to cabin prosecutorial discretion-a...