The Philippines’ move away from the International Criminal Court over the war on drugs: A blow for human rights in Asia
As a signatory to every human rights treaty and being at the forefront of promoting international human rights, Philippines is considered as one of the “architects” of the United Nations and the human rights system. This was seen as a huge step forward for human rights in Asia. However, now with the decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute, and the International Criminal Court (ICC), this will be seen a …
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers
A New Chapter for International Criminal Justice in the Balkans
As the doors were closing on Churchillplein 1, the Hague, the former home of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), only a short walk away a new institution began preparing indictments for war crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars.
Rainbow Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court?
Gender-based Persecution of Gays, Bisexuals and Lesbians as a Crime Against Humanity
On 8 November 2017, something happened which can be seen as a milestone for gay rights: a communication was submitted to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that includes crimes committed based on the victims’ real or perceived sexual orientation. Such a case would be the first of its kind and, if successful, would create a strong message for the universal prohibition of gender-based crimes for all sexual …
Opt-in vs. Opt-out = opt-in-opt-out?
On the activation of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression
In December 2017, the States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) had the chance to realize in New York what Robert H. Jackson called for in his opening statement before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. While international criminal law was only applied against German aggressors at that time, the U.S. Chief Prosecutor emphasized that the condemnation of aggressive war should be the benchmark for any other nation in …
Last but not least: Lebenslang für den “Schlächter des Balkans”
Das Urteil des Jugoslawienstrafgerichtshofes vom 22. November 2017 gegen Ratko Mladić
Bei der Verfolgung massiver Gewaltverbrechen spielen die Verfahren gegen die Entscheidungsträger*innen eine besondere Rolle. Die bloße Verfolgung „kleiner Rädchen im Getriebe“ verspricht nicht den gleichen Effekt auf die nach Gerechtigkeit strebenden Betroffenen. Bei der strafrechtlichen Aufarbeitung des Bosnienkrieges blieb dem politischen Oberhaupt der bosnischen Serb*innen, Radovan Karadžić, eine lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe allerdings erspart. Entsprechend wurde der Urteilsverkündung gegen den militärischen Kopf der bosnischen Serb*innen, Ratko Mladić, von bosniakischer Seite …
Feminist Judgments in International Law
The Idea of the Feminist Judgments Projects A feminist critique of international courts can confront the lack of representation and inclusion of women as well as women’s lack of access to courts and the justice system. However, any critique of International Courts would be limited without a critical analysis of their output, the all important judgment! Instead of performing the usual academic critique of where the judgment was lacking in …
Feminism and the International Criminal Court – still an issue?
While the International Criminal Court (ICC) has always been subject to criticism and is maybe currently facing its biggest crisis with member states withdrawing, the things that are actually going quite well must not be forgotten. It is time to reexamine the ICC from a different perspective: the feminist one. After the adoption of the Rome Statute (RS) in 1998, many envisioned the Court as almost “feminist” due to its …
Does transnational environmental crime and transnational fisheries crime exist in international law?
Yes, and it is thriving.
In her post, Professor Elliott argues for a ‘levels-of-analysis’ approach to understanding transnational environmental crime. I made a similar argument in a Chapter entitled ‘Fisheries Crime’ in Elliott and Schaedla’s recent book, where I propose three different dimensions to the analysis of ‘fisheries crime’: As a concept in law or the ‘legal procedural perspective’, where ‘fisheries crime’ is an umbrella term for a number of criminal offences, As a criminological phenomenon …
The battle against transnational fisheries crime
Jurisdictional challenges
The raison d’être of the concept of transnational ‘fisheries crime’ (TFC) (INTERPOL 2013) or ‘marine resource crime’ (UNODC 2011) can be traced to endemic illicit activities in the fisheries sector which, due to their devastating impacts, are increasingly considered as a serious problem worthy of attention as ‘criminal’ rather than merely ‘illegal’ behaviour. In terms of scope and approach, TFC is a broader and perhaps more ambitious successor of the …
Transnational environmental crime: a challenging problem but not yet a legal concept
A response to Lorraine Elliott Transnational environmental crime is both a challenging reality and a legal concept in the making. From an international law point of view, this concept is currently being defined by soft law instruments that are transmitting normative expectations about the way States may address it rather than prescribing legal provisions. These instruments are paving the way for the future development of international agreements and play an …