Tag: ICC

On 19 June 2016 the Registry of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) hosted a full day consultation seminar on the ICC’s Legal Aid Scheme (“LAS”). The seminar followed the publication of two expert reports by the International Justice Consortium (“ICJC”) and Richard J. Rogers (the ICJC report is annexed to Rogers’ report), which I commented on in a previous post. The point of the seminar was for relevant stakeholders – ICC List Counsel, Counsel from other international(ized) criminal tribunals and courts, and organizations such as the International Criminal Court Bar Association (“ICCBA”) and the Association of Defence Counsel practising before the International Courts and Tribunals (“ADC”) – to exchange views with the Registrar on refashioning the LAS. Continue reading “Registrar Hosts Consultations on the ICC’s Legal Aid Scheme: so what!?”

On May 29, 2017, The Cambodia Daily published an opinion piece by Michael G. Karnavas.  The piece appears below:

Opinion: Violent Threats Could Spur ICC Investigation

by Michael G. Karnavas¹   Michael G. Karnavas is a criminal defense lawyer. He was the co-lawyer for Ieng Sary at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and is now Meas Muth’s international co-lawyer in Case 003 at the ECCC.

The Cambodia Daily reported last Friday that Prime Minister Hun Sen gave a speech to 4,000 faithful of Cambodia’s Christian Community on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island.

He claimed that only a Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) win in the upcoming elections will ensure peace and development in Cambodia. Mr. Hun Sen then expressed his willingness to “eliminate 100 or 200 people” if the opposition were to take any actions that would lead to the “overthrow” of the CPP. Continue reading “The Cambodia Daily – Opinion: Violent Threats Could Spur ICC Investigation”

It was only a matter of time.

Just as Duterte was entreating a crowd at a public gathering “Give me salt and vinegar and I’ll eat his [terrorist] liver” because he is “50 times harder” than ISIS, a communication was being lodged against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly murdering thousands of Filipinos in his war on drugs. 8000 victims and counting¹The communication claims that based on official statistics from the Philippine National Police, there were more than 7000 drug-related killings by police and unknown armed persons from 1 July 2016 to 21 January 2017. The Situation Of Mass Murder In The Philippines Rodrigo Duterte: The Mass Murderer, by Jude Josue L. Sabio, p. 8. since elected as President of the Philippines in May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte has turned hubris – a crime in ancient Greece from the time of Solon in the 6^th century BC – into an art form. Continue reading “‘THE SITUATION OF MASS MURDER IN THE PHILIPPINES, RODRIGO DUTERTE: THE MASS MURDER’: testing the ICC-OTP”

On 22 March 2017, the Trial Chamber VII of the International Criminal Court (ICC) pronounced the sentences in the Bemba et al. Article 70 case, following its judgment on 19 October 2016, where it found Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu, and Narcisse Arido guilty of various offenses against the administration of justice in Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (Main Case).

Three interesting points came out of the sentencing: 1) even if an accused is convicted of multiple Article 70 offenses, the maximum sentence he or she can face is five years; 2) the Trial Chamber has inherent discretionary power to suspend a sentence; and 3) time may be deducted in cases where the accused is already serving his or her sentence in another case. Continue reading “Sentencing Judgment in Article 70 case at the ICC: No accumulation of sentences, suspended sentences & deduction of time”

What? The trial of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was unfair? Shocking!

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) urge Libya to turn over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late Muammar Gaddafi who ruled over Libya for 42 years, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a proper trial.¹ United Nations, Support Mission in Libya and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report on the Trial of 37 Former Members of the Qadhafi Regime (Case 630/2012), 21 February 2017, p. 55, para. 9. Surprise, surprise. Or not! Continue reading “International Observers to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: don’t count on ne bis in idem”

Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, having joined other African leaders in succumbing to the lure of withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC)¹ See also Gambia Follows South Africa’s ICC Exodus: Quelle Surprise, 31 October 2016. – no doubt out of fear of one day ending up in the ICC dock – departed the Gambia for Equatorial Guinea (a non-signatory to the Rome Statute) under a brokered deal that fell short of granting him immunity for any crimes he is alleged to have committed during his 22-year long reign.² For more on the terms of settlement, see Antenor Hallo de Wolf, Rattling Sabers to Save Democracy in The Gambia, EJIL:Talk!, 1 February 2017.

But let’s face it: immunity from prosecution for crimes against humanity is much like an amnesty (resulting in total amnesia and total prohibition against prosecution for crimes committed) – a thing of the past.  The days of kicking and screaming into the night as Uganda’s Idi Amin did when he fled to Saudi Arabia are becoming more difficult. The sanctity of sanctuaries is scarcely sacrosanct. Continue reading “It looks like the Gambia is heading back into the ICC fold: but what of Yahya Jammeh?”

Ever since the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established, it has been rather unfashionable for defense counsel to praise the ICC Registrar for attempting, let along getting, something right for the Defense.  Why?

Much lip service is paid to the fair trial rights of the accused, the need for a robust defense for all accused, and, let’s not overlook, the attainment of equality of arms. While the ICC from its inception has extolled the virtues of the role played by defense counsel, it has, unabashedly, provided a pauper’s wage and meager resources.  Any prosecutor or judge would cringe were he or she in the dock dependent on a court-financed defense of the type funded by the ICC. Nothing new; with one or two exceptions, other international(ized) tribunals and courts are only marginally better.  The ICC, however, has taken it to the near extreme. Continue reading “The ICC Registrar-Commissioned Reports Assessing the Legal Aid System: reasonable doubt at a reasonable price, realizing equality of arms, resource rationalization, and more”

On 5 December 2016, the Israeli Knesset approved a new draft of a bill recognizing West Bank settlement outposts – some 4,000 settler homes built on private Palestinian land. This measure has proved to be controversial, characterized by some as an illegal land grab. And by most accounts, it now appears that this measure was the tripwire for UN Resolution 2334 (2016), “reaffirm[ing] that the establishment by Israel of settlements … has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”¹ United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), S/RES/2334 (2016), 23 December 2016. Expectedly, acrimony and recrimination has followed.

One embarks on a discourse about Israel, Palestine, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) at his or her risk. Emotions run high on all sides. Comments made even with the best of intentions, and however measured, can draw fire, friendly and otherwise.  Difficult to have a friend-to-friend discourse without being labeled naïve, insensitive, pro-this or anti-that. Continue reading “Will the ICC Prosecutor be tempted by Israel’s settlement regulation bill?”