This book addresses the interpretation and application of human rights norms by International Criminal Tribunals (ICTs). Such Tribunals are widely heralded as human rights defenders. At the same time, however, they employ activities that necessary entail the risk of human rights violations: they conduct criminal investigations, arrest and detain individuals, and put them on trial. This book investigates this flip-side of the ICTs’ relationship with international human rights law, and focuses on the ICTs’ own interpretation and application of human rights norms. First, the book addresses whether and how ICTs are bound by human rights law, since unlike states, they do not sign or ratify human rights conventions. Second, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the way in which ICTs interpret and apply human rights norms, compared to the way in which these norms are interpreted in a traditional state-context. Relying on the unique circumstances in which they operate, ICTs have often deviated from generally accepted interpretations of human rights. The author critically examines this so-called contextual approach and seeks to recommend ways in which ICTs can improve their interpretative practice by giving due regard to the context in which they operate, while still providing adequate human rights protection. Addressing the ICTs’ possible leeway in terms of contextualization, this book contributes to the broader debates about adherence to human rights norms in international law. Krit Zeegers is an Associate at Allen & Overy LLP, Amsterdam, and previously worked as a researcher / junior lecturer at the University of Amsterdam.

The book considers human rights approaches to crimes from a theoretical and practical perspective, analyses various crimes under international law, and examines the application, implementation and enforcement of international criminal law.

This book is a guide to the law that applies in the three international criminal tribunals, for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, set up by the UN during the period 1993 to 2002 to deal with atrocities and human rights abuses committed during conflict in those countries. Building on the work of an earlier generation of war crimes courts, these tribunals have developed a sophisticated body of law concerning the elements of the three international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes), and forms of participation in such crimes, as well as other general principles of international criminal law, procedural matters and sentencing. The legacy of the tribunals will be indispensable as international law moves into a more advanced stage, with the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Their judicial decisions are examined here, as well as the drafting history of their statutes and other contemporary sources.

This volume presents an overview of the principal features of the legacy of International Tribunals and an assessment of their impact on the International Criminal Court and on the review process of the Rome Statute. It illustrates the foundation of a system of international criminal law and justice through the case-law and practices of the UN ad hoc tribunals and other internationally assisted tribunals and courts. These examples provide advice for possible future developments in international criminal procedure and law, with particular reference to their impact on the ICC and on national jurisdictions. The review process of the Rome Statute is approached as a step of a review process to provide a perspective of the developments in the field since the Statute’s adoption in 1998.

Judicial Dialogue on Human Rights offers a critical legal perspective on the manner in which international criminal tribunals select, (re-)interpret and apply the principles and standards formulated by the European Court of Human Rights. A part of the book is devoted to testing the assumption that the current practice of cross-referencing, though widespread, is incoherent in method and erratic in substance. Notable illustrations analysed in the book include the nullum crimen principle, prohibition of torture, hearsay evidence and victims’ rights. Another section of the book seeks to devise a methodologically sound ‘grammar’ of judicial dialogue, focussing on how and when human rights concepts may be transferred into the context of international criminal justice.

The book considers human rights approaches to crimes from a theoretical and practical perspective, analyses various crimes under international law, and examines the application, implementation and enforcement of international criminal law.

Various analysis mainly in international criminal law and human rights to honour late Judge Laity Kama, first President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Des contributions essentiellement en droit international penal et droit de l'homme pour honorer la memoire de feu le juge Laity Kama, premier president du Tribunal penal international pour le Rwanda.