The Procedural Law Governing Facts And Evidence In International Human Rights Proceedings

This book provides a comparative assessment of the procedural law governing facts and evidence with references to over 900 judgments and decisions of the European and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as the UN Human Rights Committee. It identifies underlying principles which govern the procedural law of these international human rights institutions. Based on the premise of a contextualized procedural law governing facts and evidence, the book analyzes where current approaches lack a foundation in the contextualization premise and offers solutions for recurring procedural problems relating to questions of subsidiarity in fact-finding, burden and standard of proof, as well as the admissibility and evaluation of evidence.

The idea of human rights as fundamental rights of every person is certainly one of the most powerful ideas of our modern age. Since the American and French revolutions, human rights have been the strongest link between law and democracy. They have played a crucial role when defining notions of constitutionalism and the rule of law. While some human rights have been made famous in national mottos such as the French libertU+fffde, U+fffdegalitU+fffde et fraternitU+fffde, other human rights have not attracted such attention. Generally, substantive human rights have been discussed and appreciated more than procedural human rights. Yet, without an effective and well-balanced set of procedural rights, the substantive rights and freedoms of almost any person or business would not enjoy effective protection before the courts of law. Based on the wish to reopen an international comparative discussion on fundamental notions of civil procedure, this book offers a number of insights into procedural human rights from different jurisdictions and different points of view. While some previous studies focused on Northern Europe, many of the authors in this book come from Southern and Eastern Europe, areas where a common understanding of procedural human rights may be an even more pressing necessity.

Volume 26 in the Procedural Aspects of International Law Monograph Series The Law and Process of the U.N. Human Rights Committee focuses attention how the Committee functions as a decision-making body and brings to light troubling flaws in the Committee’s operations that may undermine its ability to induce compliance. Published under the auspices of the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute (PAIL). For more information about PAIL please go to Pail-Institute.org. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

This comprehensive Research Handbook provides a detailed exploration of the principles and rules that impact the procedures and operation of international courts and tribunals. Within this framework, leading experts examine how the evolution of procedural rules and concepts has given rise to a distinct body of rules known as international procedural law.

This book critically addresses the still prevalent assumption of the individual’s procedural disability in international judicial fora. Against this backdrop, it examines and compares various international enforcement mechanisms from the individual’s perspective. Establishing specific comparison criteria, the book identifies the benefits and weaknesses of these mechanisms and traces the ongoing process of individualization in the field of international procedural law. Thus, it not only maps the complex landscape of international enforcement mechanisms; it also integrates the theoretical question of the individual’s role in international law with the practical issue of enforcing individual rights, thereby connecting the fields of legal theory and international procedural law. Academic readers interested in the intersection of international legal theory and international procedural law will find the book both enjoyable and insightful. Further, researchers and students of public international law will benefit from its in-depth analysis and comparative focus.

In a very meaningful way, the health of a judicial system may be judged by the care with which its procedural rights are observed. Now, in a book that takes stock of this important element as it is currently used or abused in a number of the world's legal systems, eighteen outstanding scholars approach the subject through an analysis of the following factors: the theoretical and moral implications of procedural abuses the subjects who commit them the typologies of abusive practices the consequences of abusive practices Several authors report on practices in their own countries, revealing distinct evidence of a significant degree of lowered procedural standards in the United States, several European countries, Australia, Japan, and Latin America. General and final reports provide a comparative framework for an analytical study that will repay the study of anyone concerned with the fairness of our legal institutions.

International Criminal Procedure: Principles and Rules is a comprehensive study of international criminal proceedings written by over forty leading experts in the field. The book offers a systematic overview and detailed comparison of the standards governing the conduct of proceedings in all major international and internationalized criminal courts from the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals to the recently established Cambodian Extraordinary Chambers and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Based on a major research project, the study covers all procedural phases from the initiation of investigation to the appeals process. It pays special attention to the crosscutting themes which shape the contemporary discourse on international criminal justice, including the law of evidence, the defence issues, the procedural role of victims, and negotiated dismissal of international crime cases. The book not only takes stock of the procedural legacy of the UN ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, but also reflects on the future directions of international criminal procedure. Investigating the tribunals' procedural law and practice through the prism of human rights law, domestic legal traditions, and tribunals' special objectives, the expert group puts forth proposals on how the challenges facing international criminal jurisdictions can best be met. International Criminal Procedure will be an indispensable work for practitioners involved in the adjudication of serious crimes on both national and international level, as well as international law students and academics.

Pasqualucci analyzes all aspects of the advisory jurisdiction, contentious jurisdiction, and provisional measures orders of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, including the Rules of Procedure of the Court and the Commission. This is an important resource for scholars, practitioners, and students of international human rights law and practice.

In modern societies, full criminal trials are avoided on many occasions. This book is concerned with mechanisms that either divert from or speed up the proceedings. Koen Vriend argues that the fair trial rights as established by the European Court of Human Rights under Article 6 ECHR provide a normative framework that does not only apply in a full criminal trial, but that it can also be used for diverted and shortened proceedings. He shows that the concept of fairness—as derived from ECtHR case law—is a fundamental principle that underlies all criminal law enforcement. It provides for the appropriate framework to assess whether diverted or shortened proceedings are fair and legitimate. The book is intended for criminal law scholars and practitioners and human rights scholars. Dr. Koen Vriend is a Lecturer of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law at the University of Amsterdam.

Principles of Evidence in International Criminal Justice provides an overview of the procedure and practice concerning the admission and evaluation of evidence before the international criminal tribunals. The book is both descriptive and critical and its emphasis is on day-to-day practice, drawing on the experience of the Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone Tribunals. This book is an attempt to define and explain the core principles and rules that have developed at those ad hoc Tribunals; the rationale and origin of those rules; and to assess the suitability of those rules in the particular context of the International Criminal Court which is still at its early stages. The ICC differs in structure from the ad hoc Tribunals and approaches the legal issues it has to resolve differently from its predecessors. The ICC is however confronted with many of the same questions. The book examines the differences between the ad hoc Tribunals and the ICC and seeks to offer insights as to how and in which circumstances the principles established over years of practice at the ICTY, ICTR and SCSL may serve as guidance to the ICC practitioners of today and the future. The contributors represent a cross-section of the practicing international criminal bar, drawn from the ranks of the Bench, the Prosecution and the Defence and bringing with them different legal domestic cultures. Their mixed background underlines the recurring theme in this book which is the manner in which a legal culture has gradually taken shape in the international Tribunals, drawing on the various traditions and experiences of its participants.