Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: 1,7, University of Bremen, language: English, abstract: Fifty years after the Nuremberg-Tribunal, the U.N. Commission of Experts on the Former Yugoslavia stated, that “states may choose to combine their jurisdictions under the universality principle and vest this combined jurisdiction in an international tribunal.” This tribunal, the International Criminal Court (ICC), finally was created by a diplomatic conference held in Rome in 1998, where 120 States voted to adopt the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court , rendering into force in 2002. This detailed international treaty provides for the creation of an international criminal court with power to try and punish for the most serious violations of human rights in cases where national justice systems fail at the task. The ICC therefore ushers in a new era in the protection of human rights. Some authors even say that to a great extent, the success of the Court parallels the growth of the international human rights movement, much of whose fundamental philosophy and outlook it shares. Lately mainly questions concerning the Iraq-conflict were raised, concerning the problem, whether criminal proceedings against the main actors before the ICC would be “successful”.

Galand critically spells out a comprehensive conception of the nature and effects of Security Council referrals that responds to the various limits to the International Criminal Court's exercise of jurisdiction over situations that concern nationals and territories of non-party States.

Contains the trial proceedings of the International Criminal Court, the ICTY and the ICTR in one single volume. This book covers the procedural and evidentiary aspects of the trials before the ICC from the beginning of an investigation until the time the convict has served the sentence and it includes ICTY and ICTR precedents.

Offers a new understanding of traditional rules on jurisdiction and admissibility of cases before international courts and tribunals.

This book theorizes the ways in which states that are presumed to be weaker in the international system use the International Criminal Court (ICC) to advance their security and political interests. Ultimately, it contends that African states have managed to instrumentally and strategically use the international justice system to their advantage, a theoretical framework that challenges the “justice cascade” argument. The empirical work of this study focuses on four major themes around the intersection of power, states' interests, and the global governance of atrocity crimes: firstly, the strategic use of self-referrals to the ICC; secondly, complementarity between national and the international justice system; thirdly, the limits of state cooperation with international courts; and finally the use of international courts in domestic political conflicts. This book is valuable to students, scholars, and researchers who are interested in international relations, international criminal justice, peace and conflict studies, human rights, and African politics.

Through the eyes of those who actually conducted the negotiations, each of the 28 chapters chapter focuses on how the Elements and Rules were negotiated, what the main issues were, why certain provisions were included, and why certain proposals were deliberately left out. In the absence of any official travaux preparatoires, this work facilitates a better understanding of the legislative intent and serves as a guide to future application of the Statute by the Court.

This systematic, contextual and practice-oriented account of complementarity explores the background and historical expectations associated with complementarity, its interpretation in prosecutorial policy and judicial practice, its context (ad hoc tribunals, universal jurisdiction, R2P) and its impact in specific situations (Colombia, Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic, Sudan and Kenya). Written by leading experts from inside and outside the Court and scholars from multiple disciplines, the essays combine theoretical inquiry with policy recommendations and the first-hand experience of practitioners. It is geared towards academics, lawyers and policy-makers who deal with the impact and application of international criminal justice and its interplay with peace and security, transitional justice and international relations.