The Annotated Digest of the International Criminal Court, 2009, is the fourth in a series of volumes which compile the most significant legal findings in public decisions rendered by the ICC. This volume addresses questions considered by the ICC in 2009 including substantive issues involving the elements of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and command responsibility, as well as questions about the right to legal assistance, the legal recharacterization of charges, and the participation of victims in proceedings before the Court. Abstracts compiled in this series were selected based on the following criteria: (i) clarification of a legal issue or interpretation of a legal provision; (ii) implementation of a legal provision; and (iii) meaningfulness with respect to international justice, human rights, or international humanitarian law.

The Annotated Digest of the International Criminal Court, 2008, is the third volume in an annual series, which compiles a selection of the most significant legal findings from public decisions rendered by the International Criminal Court in 2008. A total of 472 public decisions were reviewed for the preparation of this volume. The selected abstracts include an extraordinary number of landmark decisions on substantive and procedural issues including, among others, the constitutive elements of crimes against humanity and war crimes, the rights of victims to participate in different stages of proceedings, the guarantees of a fair trial, and the prosecutorial obligation to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence in its possession. The year was marked by two new arrests, one in the situation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Ngudjolo), the other in the situation from the Central African Republic (Bemba), as well as confirmation of charges in the joint case The Prosecutor v. Katanga and Ngudjolo. Finally, 2008 paved the way for commencement of the first trials in the history of the International Criminal Court, which officially began in 2009. Abstracts included in this series were selected based on the following criteria: (i) clarification of a legal issue or interpretation of a legal provision; (ii) implementation or application of a legal provision; and (iii) meaningfulness with respect to international justice, human rights, or international humanitarian law. Passages are normally quoted in English, except where the English translation has not been made available; in such circumstances, abstracts are provided in French with an accompanying English-language summary. Selected abstracts are organized under the relevant Statute, Rule of Procedure and Evidence, or Regulation of the Court. A short description or summary is provided for each topic, and a reference system and index allow for easy reference to other decisions quoted in the Digest series.

The International Criminal Court is at a crossroads. In 1998, the Court was still a fiction. A decade later, it has become operational and faces its first challenges as a judicial institution. This volume examines this transition. It analyses the first jurisprudence and policies of the Court. It provides a systematic survey of the emerging law and practice in four main areas: the relationship of the Court to domestic jurisdictions, prosecutorial policy and practice, the treatment of the Courta (TM)s applicable law and the shaping of its procedure. It revisits major themes, such as jurisdiction, complementarity, cooperation, prosecutorial discretion, modes of liability, pre-trial, trial and appeals procedure and the treatment of victims and witnesses, as well as their criticisms. It also explores some of challenges and potential avenues for future reform.

Now in a comprehensively updated edition, this indispensable handbook analyzes how international humanitarian law has evolved in the face of these many new challenges. Central concerns include the war on terror, new forms of armed conflict and humanitarian action, the emergence of international criminal justice, and the reshaping of fundamental rules and consensus in a multipolar world. ThePractical Guide to Humanitarian Law provides the precise meaning and content for over 200 terms such as terrorism, refugee, genocide, armed conflict, protection, peacekeeping, torture, and private military companies—words that the media has introduced into everyday conversation, yet whose legal and political meanings are often obscure. The Guide definitively explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries. Written from the perspective of victims and those who provide assistance to them, the Guide outlines the dangers, spells out the law, and points the way toward dealing with violations of the law. Entries are complemented by analysis of the decisions of relevant courts; detailed bibliographic references; addresses, phone numbers, and Internet links to the organizations presented; a thematic index; and an up-to-date list of the status of ratification of more than thirty international conventions and treaties concerning humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, and international criminal law. This unprecedented work is an invaluable reference for policy makers and opinion leaders, students, relief workers, and members of humanitarian organizations. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

This highly specialized study assesses the procedure of surrender of individuals to international criminal courts, based on the practices of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and that of Rwanda (ICTR). The study includes discussion of the difference between extradition and surrender, the different conceptual systems of the three courts with regard to surrender obligations and rights, the judicial implications of surrender, the specific surrender defenses used in the three courts, and aspects of international extradition law and human rights law. Specific cases from the three courts are cited throughout. Knoops is a criminal lawyer in The Hague in The Netherlands. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR