Personal Participation In Criminal Proceedings

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of personal participation in criminal proceedings and in absentia trials. Going beyond the accused-centred perspective of default proceedings, it not only examines the consequences of absence in various types of criminal proceedings, but also the fair trial safeguards allowing personal contributions during trials, as well as in pre-trial inquiries, higher instances and transborder procedures. By pursuing an interdisciplinary approach and employing comparative-law methodologies, the book presents a cross-section of twelve European criminal justice systems with regard to the requirements set forth by constitutional, international and EU law.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of personal participation in criminal proceedings and in absentia trials. Going beyond the accused-centred perspective of default proceedings, it not only examines the consequences of absence in various types of criminal proceedings, but also the fair trial safeguards allowing personal contributions during trials, as well as in pre-trial inquiries, higher instances and transborder procedures. By pursuing an interdisciplinary approach and employing comparative-law methodologies, the book presents a cross-section of twelve European criminal justice systems with regard to the requirements set forth by constitutional, international and EU law.

Requirements for the defendant to actively participate in the English criminal process have been increasing in recent years such that the defendant can now be penalised for their non-cooperation. This book explores the changes to the defendant’s role as a participant in the criminal process and the ramifications of penalising a defendant’s non-cooperation, particularly its effect on the adversarial system. The book develops a normative theory which proposes that the criminal process should operate as a mechanism for calling the state to account for its accusations and request for official condemnation and punishment of the accused. It goes on to examine the limitations placed on the privilege against self-incrimination, the curtailment of the right to silence, and the defendant’s duty to disclose the details of his or her case prior to trial. The book shows that, by placing participatory requirements on defendants and penalising them for their non-cooperation, a system of obligatory participation has developed. This development is the consequence of pursuing efficient fact-finding with little regard for principles of fairness or the rights of the defendant.

This book is a guide to the law and practice of victims’ roles before the International Criminal Court, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The various chapters focus on the provisions relevant to victim participation at these courts and the case law interpreting and applying those provisions. The book thus informs the reader on the principal ways in which the relevant practice is developing, the distinct avenues taken in the application of similar provisions as well as the ensuing advantages and challenges. Unlike other volumes focusing on relevant academic literature, this volume is written mainly by practitioners and is addressed to those lawyers, legal advisers and victimologists who work or wish to work in the field of victim participation in international criminal justice. Kinga Tibori-Szabó is legal officer for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague and has previously worked for the Legal Representative of Victims at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Megan Hirst is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and has worked on victims' participation issues in the Registries of the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as well as in an LRV team in Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen.

This book canvasses the autonomous position of victims before the International Criminal Court. It seeks to provide an objective and balanced perspective, and neither rejects the idea of victims’ participation or seeks to extend it beyond the contours determined by the founders of the ICC.

This study is the second in the four-part series entitled “Rethinking the Essentials of International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice”. While the first volume, The Concept of Universal Crimes in International Law, explored the parameters and theories related to crimes under international law, this book examines the notion of punishable participation in such crimes. It presents a general theory of personal criminal liability and provides a comprehensive overview of all forms of criminal participation in international law. The authors examine numerous primary materials in international and transnational criminal law, both historical and current, relating to both international and domestic jurisprudence. They also review academic literature that attempts to explain and bring consistency to the jurisprudence, as well as other sources such as reports of the International Law Commission. This rich empirical tapestry is then used to test and further develop an overarching conceptual theory and matrix that provides a better understanding of the boundaries of personal criminal liability lex lata and lex ferenda and of the relationship between the various forms of punishable participation in universal crimes. Like the first volume, this book makes a valuable contribution to a more coherent and practical understanding of international criminal law.

Following on from the earlier edited collection, Loss of Control and Diminished Responbility, this book is the first volume in the Substantive Issues in Criminal Law series. It serves as a leading point of reference in the area relating to participation in crime and identifies the need for a consistent approach to the doctrinal and theoretical underpinnings of complicity liability. With a section on the UK analysing points of current interest, the book also has a large comparative section dealing with foreign jurisdictions and examines on the basis of a unified research grid how different legal systems treat core issues of participation in the context of criminal law. This book is a valuable reference resource for those in the criminal justice community in the UK and abroad and for academics, the judiciary and policy-makers.

In international law victims' issues have gained more and more attention over the last decades. In particular in transitional justice processes the victim is being given high priority. It is to be seen in this context that the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court foresees a rather excessive victim participation concept in criminal prosecution. In this volume issue is taken at first with the definition of victims, and secondly with the role of the victim as a witness and as a participant. Several chapters address this matter with a view to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Trial against Demjanjuk in Germany. In a third part the interests of the victims outside the criminal trial are being discussed. In the final part the role of civil society actors are being tackled. This volume thus gives an overview of the role of victims in transitional justice processes from an interdisciplinary angle, combining academic research and practical experience.