2022 Criminal Trial Strategies

A just outcome for accused persons and for victims of crime is the beacon of any fair society. Trial lawyers and judges are the defenders of liberty. There is no aspect of life where strategy is more important to a person than in a criminal trial. For the individuals involved, the stakes are as high as in a war. A single strategic error on the part of a prosecutor or criminal defence counsel can destroy the life and liberty of the innocent, as well as their families and friends. And because of precedence, it can also affect an infinite number of citizens later. Trying a criminal case is therefore among the most stressful work that can be undertaken. In law, every word is important. But some words are more important. Developing an effective trial strategy means knowing which words are the most important. This book will help you cut through the fluff. If you read it and understand it, you will be better equipped to navigate through complicated issues to a successful outcome. Ineffective trial counsel with poor strategy will focus on irrelevant details. Effective trial counsel must stay focused on the most important facts. The goal is that at the end of the trial, the effective counsel has painted a clear picture that persuades a judge or jury to accept it and rely upon it for its decision. This is a powerful book. It is as useful for criminal law students as it is for seasoned trial lawyers and judges.

This book provides a comprehensive account of how non-state actors rely on international criminal law as a tool in the service of progressive political causes. The argument that international criminal law and its institutions serve as an instrument in the hands of a few powerful states, and that its practice is characterized by double standards and selectivity, has received considerable attention. This book, however, focuses on a practice that is informed by this argument. Its focus is on an alternative practice within international criminal law, where non-state actors navigate what critical scholars call a structurally biased legal system, in order to achieve long-term political objectives. Innovatively, the book combines the concerns expressed by Third World Approaches to International Law with strategic litigation that focuses on the accountability of corporations for their complicity in crimes under international law. Analysing this litigation, the book demonstrates that, while it is crucial to highlight the blind spots of the international criminal legal framework, it is also important to take into account the practice of non-state actors engaged in leveraging its emancipatory potential. This original analysis of the implementation and legitimacy of international criminal law will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and activists working in relevant areas of law, politics, criminology and international relations.

In 2020, Colombia joined the OECD as the 37th Member of the Organisation, bringing to a successful conclusion an accession process that began in 2013. During the accession process, Colombia made important reforms and progress in the area of labour market and social policies, converging towards OECD best policies and practices.

This book sets out an agenda to transform international criminal trials and the delivery of international criminal justice to victim communities through collaboration of currently competing paradigms. It reflects a transformation of thinking about the comparative analysis of the trial process, and seeks to advance the boundaries of international criminal justice through wider access and inclusivity in an environment of rights protection.Collaborative justice is advanced as providing the future context of international criminal trials. The book's radical dimension is its argument for the harmonization of restorative and retributive justice within the international criminal trial. The focus is initially on the trial process, a key symbol of developing international styles of justice. It examines theoretical models and political applications of criminal justice through detailed empirical analysis, in order to explore the underlying relationship of theory and empirical study, applying the outcome in theory testing and policy evaluation in several different jurisdictions. The book injects a significant comparative dimension into the study of international criminal justice.This is achieved through searching the traditional foundations of internationalism in justice by employing an original methodology to enable a multi-dimensional exploration of contexts (local, regional and global), so recognising the importance of difference within an agenda suggesting synthesis.The book argues for a concept of international trial within a 'rights paradigm', understood against different procedural traditions and practices, and provides a detailed description of trials and trial decision-making in various jurisdictions. Transforming International Criminal Justice also sets out to develop effective research strategies as part of its interrogation of specific trial narratives and meanings in contemporary legal cultures. Key themes are those of internationalisation, fair trial and the exercise of discretion in justice resolutions (sentencing in particular), and the lay/professional relationship and its dynamics. Finally, the book provides a searching critique of the relevance of existing criminology and legal sociology in relation to international criminal justice, and speculates on trial transformation and the merger of retributive and restorative international criminal justice. comparative analysis of the criminal trial process internationallyargues for harmonization of retributive and restorative justice within the international criminal trialsets out an agenda to transform international criminal trials and the delivery of international criminal justice to victim communities

This volume follows the stages of a criminal case in New York State and offers tips and strategies for attorneys beginning with the initial client contact through the trial and the sentencing process.

Trial Techniques for Criminal Cases provides an authoritative, insiders perspective on best practices for defending clients in criminal trials. Featuring leading criminal defense attorneys from across the country, these experts guide the reader through establishing client relationships, negotiating plea bargains, and building an effective defense strategy. Emphasizing the importance of understanding the variable elements of any given case, these authors discuss the techniques most critical for a successful outcome and offer strategies for developing a case theory, selecting jurors, handling discovery issues, analyzing evidence, and examining witnesses. From preparing pre-trial motions to developing a closing argument, these top attorneys offer insight into the myriad issues surrounding a criminal trial and how to best handle them. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great legal minds of today, as these experienced lawyers offer up their thoughts around the keys to navigating this dynamic area of law.

This book provides a critical introduction to the core elements of international criminal law. It does so by provoking thought on what international criminal law is, or could be, by contrasting the practice of widely recognised state-based actors and institutions such as the International Criminal Court with practices associated with non-state actors in particular citizens' tribunals. International criminal law is now established as an essential legal and institutional response to atrocity. However, it faces a series of political and practical challenges. It is vital to consider its limits and potential, as well as the ways and extent to which those limitations might be addressed. Many actors with very different visions of its nature and parameters play a role in shaping the meaning of international criminal law whether that be in official or unofficial spaces. This book explores the principles and institutions of international criminal law alongside the alternative visions of it put forward by citizens' tribunals. In so doing it encourages reflection on that law's multiple meanings and usages in order to provoke consideration of what it means, and might mean, to deploy international criminal law today.