Duncan Gaswaga, a former judge of the Seychelles Supreme Court who has presided over numerous piracy trials, asked the following question: "What is a judge to do when a bearded piracy suspect facing justice asserts that he is fourteen?" This book addresses this important question by focusing on the treatment of juvenile piracy suspects under international law within national prosecutorial regimes. Beginning with the modern-day Somali piracy model, and exploring the reasons for piracy organizers and financiers to have employed Somali youth as pirates, author Milena Sterio analyzes the relevant international legal framework applicable to the treatment of juvenile criminal suspects, such as international human rights law, international criminal law, including the statutes of several international and ad hoc tribunals, as well as legal issues related to the use of child soldiers, as a parallel to the use of child pirates. This volume examines recent national piracy prosecutions involving juvenile suspects in Germany, Spain, India, Italy, Malaysia, the Seychelles, and the United States, developing a set of recommendations and best practices for all piracy prosecuting nations dealing with juvenile suspects to refer to in developing their national policy toward the treatment of juvenile piracy suspects.

This book addresses maritime piracy by focusing on the unique and fascinating issues arising in the course of domestic piracy prosecutions, from the pursuit and apprehension of pirates to their trial and imprisonment. It examines novel matters not addressed in other published works, such as the challenges in preserving and presenting evidence in piracy trials, the rights of pirate defendants, and contending with alleged pirates who are juveniles. A more thorough understanding of modern piracy trials and the precedent they have established is critical to scholars, practitioners, and the broader community interested in counter-piracy efforts, as these prosecutions are likely to be the primary judicial mechanism to contend with pirate activity going forward.

The act of fighting or being a fighter has certain consequences in international law. The most obvious example can be found in international humanitarian law, where a distinction is drawn between fighters and civilians, with fighters being military objectives and civilians being protected from attack. Another example is from international human rights law, where it has been held that the particular characteristics of military life have to be taken into account when interpreting the human rights of members of state armed forces. This volume focuses on the field of international criminal law and asks the question: what relevance does fighting have to victimhood in international criminal law? Among the topics which are explored are: how have international criminal courts and tribunals untangled lawful casualties of war from victims of war crimes? How have they determined who is a member of an organised armed group and who is not? What crimes can those who fight be victims of during hostilities? When does it become relevant in international criminal law that an alleged victim of a crime was a person hors de combat rather than a civilian? Can war crimes be committed against members of non-opposing forces? Can persons hors de combat be victims of crimes against humanity and genocide? What special considerations surround peacekeepers and child soldiers as victims of international crimes? The author carries out an in-depth exploration of case law from international criminal courts and tribunals to assess how they have dealt with these questions. She concludes that the import of fighting upon victimhood in the context of international criminal law has not always been appreciated to the extent it should have been.

Beyond the push in the human rights field to ensure respect for the rights of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, queer legal theory provides a means to examine the structural assumptions and conceptual architecture that underpin the normative framework and operation of international law, highlighting bias and blind spots and offering fresh perspectives and practical innovations.

This book aims to evaluate the contribution of Latin America to the development of international law at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This contemporary approach to international adjudication includes the historical contribution of the region to the development of international law through the emergence of international jurisdictions, as well as the procedural and material contribution of the cases submitted by or against Latin American states to the ICJ to the development of international law. The project then conceives international jurisdictions from a multifunctional perspective, which encompasses the Court as both an instrument of the parties and an organ of a value-based international community. This shows how Latin American states have become increasingly committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes and to the promotion of international law through adjudication. It culminates with an expansion of the traditional understanding of the function of the ICJ by Latin American states, including an analysis of existing challenges in the region. The book will be of interest to all those interested in international dispute resolution, including academic libraries, the judiciary, practitioners in international law, government institutions, academics, and students alike.

China is a country that is rich in antiquities, but it is also a victim of looting that occurred during the period from the First Opium War to the end of the Japanese Occupation (1840–1945) when innumerable cultural objects were lost overseas. The Chinese Government insists on asserting its interest over its wrongfully removed cultural heritage and has sought for the return of lost cultural heritage by all means in accordance with relevant international conventions and Chinese laws. However, securing the return has been, and continues to be, problematic. Little research has been done regarding the question as to whether China has a legal basis for recovery, which is the first legal hurdle that China needs to get over. In addition, China does not have a legal basis for all cultural heritage taken during the period of 1840–1945. Claims for return without a legal basis are usually silenced or, at best, discussed only but very rarely facilitated. This book provides an answer for the return of Chinese cultural heritage. It examines the law contemporaneous to the removal of Chinese cultural heritage and its application. For this lack of a legal basis, this book argues that a new customary international law is emerging, according to which the interests of the states of origin in their wrongfully removed heritage should be prioritised. This proposed customary rule supports the return of wrongfully removed heritage. Once this proposed customary rule is accepted, it will provide a stronger argument not only for China, but also for other states of origin with a similar dilemma, including South Korea, Egypt, Greece, Cambodia, Turkey, Peru, and Italy, to recover their wrongfully removed heritage. While dealing with a large pool of return cases, this book is valuable to museums and art collectors in the event of buying and accepting art objects, and settling recovery disputes with states of origin. It will also be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of cultural heritage law, international law, international trade, and human rights law.

This book analyses the exercise of authority by the UN Security Council and its subsidiary organs over individuals. The UN Security Council was created in 1945 as an outcome of World War II under the predominant assumption that it exercises its authority against states. Under this assumption, the UN Security Council and those individuals were ‘distanced’ by the presence of member states that intermediate between the Security Council’s international commands and those individuals that are subject to member states’ domestic law. However, in practice, the UN Security Council’s exercise of authority has incrementally removed the presence of state intermediaries and reduced the Security Council’s distance to individuals. This book demonstrates that this phenomenon has increased the relevance of domestic law in developing the international normative frameworks governing the UN Security Council and its subsidiary organs in safeguarding the rights, obligations, and interests of those affected individuals. This book presents how the UN Security Council’s exercise of authority has been received at the domestic level, and what would be the international implications of the Security Council’s extensive encounter with the actors who primarily reside in a domestic legal order.