On 25-27 October 2017, I was invited by The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) to give a presentation on the Position of the Defence and Adequate Facilities at the Academy Colloquium titled “International Criminal Justice and the Enforcement Deficit: In Search of Sui Generis Theories and Procedures.” The Colloquium was organized by Professor André Klip (Maastricht University) and Professor Steven Freeland (University of Western Sydney) and followed a one-day master class for PhD students on methodology of International Criminal Law and foundations of International Criminal Procedure. The Colloquium’s overarching topics were provocative, touching upon some of the most existential questions of international criminal justice and the purposes of establishing international(ized) criminal tribunals and courts: What is international criminal justice? Should it be built on national experience or is it something of its own nature? In answering these questions, the presenters were asked to think outside the box and to challenge or poke at orthodoxies and firmly held beliefs. The presentations were excellent; stimulating, interesting, and lively discussions. Continue reading “Academy Colloquium International Criminal Justice and the Enforcement Deficit: In Search of Sui Generis Theories and Procedures”
Book Review – Part II: Research Handbook on Transitional Justice
Research Handbook on Transitional Justice, Edited by Cheryl Lawther, Luke Moffett, Dov Jacobs, Edward Elgar Publishing, £195, 576 pages
In my previous post, I introduced the broad concepts discussed in Research Handbook on Transitional Justice (Transitional Justice), edited by Cheryl Lawther and Luke Moffett of Queen’s University Belfast and Dov Jacobs of Leiden University and commented on some of the strengths and weaknesses of the individual chapters. In this post, I will provide my views on the debates surrounding the topic of transitional justice and outline some of the challenges in achieving transitional justice that I have witnessed through my experience working in the field in post-conflict areas. Continue reading “Book Review – Part II: Research Handbook on Transitional Justice”
Book Review – Part I: Research Handbook on Transitional Justice
Research Handbook on Transitional Justice, Edited by Cheryl Lawther, Luke Moffett, Dov Jacobs, Edward Elgar Publishing, £195, 576 pages
If you are planning on taking a course on transitional justice or are simply interested in knowing more about it (what it is or what it is claimed to be), or if you are working in the transitional justice field or its close cousin, the development field, I recommend Research Handbook on Transitional Justice, edited by Cheryl Lawther and Luke Moffett of Queen’s University Belfast and Dov Jacobs of Leiden University (Transitional Justice). Continue reading “Book Review – Part I: Research Handbook on Transitional Justice”
Bensouda’s Folly: It depends upon what the meaning of the word “is” is
We would like to restate for the record the fact that the Office of the Prosecutor has not sought advice, communicated or collaborated with the former Prosecutor.
Fatou Bensouda((As quoted in Sven Becker and Dietmar Pieper, The Ocampo Affair: Current ICC Chief Prosecutor Weighed Down by Predecessor, Der Spiegel, 17 October 2017.))
Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, has some explaining to do.
In my last post, I mused whether she would take the necessary action to get to the bottom of what is now being referred to as Ocampogate – Luis Moreno Ocampo’s potential illicit activities in his offshore companies and large transfer of funds through and to tax havens while acting as the first ICC Prosecutor, and the unusually lucrative consulting deal he struck with Libyan oil billionaire (and past Muammar Gaddafi associate) Hassan Tatanaki – for whom Moreno Ocampo condescended himself by inappropriately soliciting assistance and inside confidential information from ICC staff.
Madame Bensouda was quick to distance herself from her former boss, issuing a statement that she had no contact with him since he left the ICC. In doing so, she obviously wanted to shield herself from any Ocampogate blowback. Continue reading “Bensouda’s Folly: It depends upon what the meaning of the word “is” is”
MORENO OCAMPO’S TACIT ADMISSION TO BENSOUDA
Occasionally the best defense is an offense. More often, however, the best defense is to keep silent, admit nothing, be circumspect in word and deed – at least until all facts are known (the good, the bad, and the ugly).
Many under investigation – especially those who have tasted raw power and have enjoyed the esteem and adulation of their peers, of the influential, and of the beautiful cause-driven socialites – have gone on to be charged, and have made their defense much more challenging, if not outright impossible, by indulging their ego and sense of self-importance.
Many of the powerful and popular tend to think that because of their present position or past accomplishments, or because of their confidence in their brimming gravitas (why else would they be on Mount Olympus while the rest of us are mere yeomen toiling in obscurity), or because of who they are, they can make unpleasant and inconvenient truths disappear. All they need do is talk, to explain away. Continue reading “MORENO OCAMPO’S TACIT ADMISSION TO BENSOUDA “
Resisting the siren calls for juries in transitioning criminal proceedings
On 6 October 2017, I had the privilege to participate in a conference and roundtable discussion dedicated to the publication of “Doubt in favour of the defendant, guilty beyond reasonable doubt” hosted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia). My contribution to the text was a historical analysis of the beyond reasonable doubt standard of proof and the principle of in dubio pro reo. My research paper was mainly a compilation and collation of the works of leading experts who have grappled with this issue, and an analysis of the jurisprudence and jury instructions of various common law jurisdictions and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Continue reading “Resisting the siren calls for juries in transitioning criminal proceedings”
Moreno Ocampo’s Game: and the sordidness keeps coming
I never did something wrong because I am very careful. I don’t like to work on things that are awful. I reject cases for million dollars if I don’t like the case. I believe in my career, fighting people committing crimes from power.
Luis Moreno Ocampo((As quoted in Svan Becker, Marian Blasberg and Dietmar Pieper, The Ocampo Affair: A Former ICC Chief’s Dubious Links, Der Spiegel, 5 October 2017))
Someone is trying to blackmail me using illegally-obtained information
Louis Moreno Ocampo((As quoted in Barney Thompson, Former ICC Prosecutor in Row Over Lucrative Consultancy Work, Financial Times, 6 October 2017))
The cat is out of the bag.((A colloquial phrase for when a secret is made known. The phrase originates from the fraud of substituting a cat for a piglet at markets. If you let the cat out of the bag you disclosed the trick – and avoided buying a pig in a poke (bag). )) By now, the world over, titillating information – facts beyond change, inferences drawn from circumstantial evidence, and speculations based on rumor and innuendo – has surfaced concerning Luis Moreno Ocampo’s conduct and activities while serving as the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and thereafter.
The image that emerges is a picture of a marginally competent, appreciably unethical, excessively greedy, cheekily narcissistic, and deeply flawed Shakespearian figure who sees himself as the victim of untruths, allusions, and distortions.
Trickle, trickle. Many of the facts based on the leaked 40,000 documents (internal documents from the ICC, contracts, diplomatic dispatches, bank records and emails) remain unknown. But from what has been revealed thus far, it is not a pretty picture. And with each new revelation, Moreno Ocampo must be feeling the effects of Chinese water torture – drip, drip, drip. Continue reading “Moreno Ocampo’s Game: and the sordidness keeps coming”
The Moreno Ocampo identity: hubris abandoned
Doubt, benefit of the doubt, reasonable doubt. These are words embedded in the DNA of all defense lawyers. Whether championing a client’s case or reading a salacious story in the press, doubt is always front of mind. Defense lawyers are trained not to prejudge, not to form opinions without knowledge of all the facts, and without testing the evidence. And since facts can get in the way of a good story, it’s impulsive to accept as accurate and true what is reported in the news without question. Occasionally, however, there comes an article that so shocks the conscience that it’s too difficult not to take it at face value, or muster the kind of skepticism that is our professional default.
Such is a story reported about the first and former International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo’s seedy (and greedy) conduct involving Hassan Tatanaki – a client who forked over USD $750,000 to Moreno Ocampo for what Moreno Ocampo characterized as “consultancy services” on the use of international law in reducing the ongoing violence and securing peace in Libya. Continue reading “The Moreno Ocampo identity: hubris abandoned”
Book Review Part 2 — The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument by Stephen M. Rice
The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument by Stephen M. Rice (National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 2017) 290 pages, $ 75.
Part 2
It is claimed that 90% of the legal issues raised in domestic United States cases can be resolved through deductive reasoning, where the conclusion is mandated through two propositions. I would say the same is essentially true with legal issues in cases before the international(ized) tribunals and courts. Continue reading “Book Review Part 2 — The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument by Stephen M. Rice”
BOOK REVIEW Part 1 – THE FORCE OF LOGIC: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument, by Stephen M. Rice
The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument by Stephen M. Rice (National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 2017) 290 pages, $ 75.
Part 1
The lawyer’s job, when confronted by an argument with an errant logical structure, is to focus on the architecture of the argument. Herein lies the problem: many lawyers are not trained in formal logic enough to spot these logical errors. Even when they do sense the errors, they do not have language tools to talk about them. … The problem with an argument with an errant logical structure is neither a fact problem nor a law problem. Instead, it is a logic problem and many lawyers are not well armed to talk about logic: what logic is, what logic’s role is in legal argument, and importantly, how to describe and talk about problems of logical form.((Stephen M. Rice, The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument (National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 2017), Chapter 1.2. ))
Professor Stephen M. Rice of Liberty University School of Law (Lynchburg, Virginia) correctly observes that while lawyers employ a variety of tools in describing why an argument misleads, distorts, ignores relevant facts, or mischaracterizes the law, few are equipped with the tools to describe the errors in the logical form of an argument. It is not as if every legal argument challenged will invariably entail a logical error, or that the application of logic is the be-all and end-all of legal argumentation, but it is another important, if not indispensable, weapon in the lawyer’s arsenal. Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW Part 1 – THE FORCE OF LOGIC: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument, by Stephen M. Rice”