Procedural Fairness In International Courts And Tribunals

Procedural fairness is a topic of contemporary importance that touches upon the jurisdictional powers, the effectiveness, and the normative/institutional framework of international courts and tribunals. Increasingly prominent in practice, it features in a wide spectrum of arbitral and judicial settlement processes, from the handling of expert evidence before the International Court of Justice, as well as the burden and standard of proof in investor-State arbitration, to the role of victims and the right to a prompt and speedy trial at the International Criminal Court. The fairness of these proceedings is a topic of fundamental importance, not only to practitioners of international law (judges, counsels, registrars, NGO lawyers, legal advisers, and other civil servants), but also to scholars of international law due to its implications for the key topic of international dispute settlement. This book frames the study of procedural fairness as the identification of fundamental principles inherent to international judicial and arbitral processes. It draws together a number of pertinent issues on specific aspects of fairness (e.g. the equality of arms principle) before international courts and tribunals within a comprehensive narrative. It brings academics and practitioners together to initiate ground-breaking research into this novel topic. The book employs a comparative approach whereby the contributors analyze the procedures and practices of various international courts and tribunals. It identifies patterns of commonality and divergence in the core standards of procedural fairness of international courts, and it develops a holistic understanding of the nature of procedural fairness and the challenges to its realization in the international judicial system. The book concludes that, while there is no universal model of procedural fairness, nascent principles of fairness are emerging in the jurisprudence of international courts in order to resolve procedural and practical issues. [Subject: International Law, Comparative Law]

International courts and tribunals are often asked to review decisions originally made by domestic decision-makers. This can often be a source of tension, as the international courts and tribunals need to judge how far to defer to the original decisions of the national bodies. As international courts and tribunals have proliferated, different courts have applied differing levels of deference to those originial decisions, which can lead to a fragmentation in international law. International courts in such positions rely on two key doctrines: the standard of review and the margin of appreciation. The standard of review establishes the extent to which national decisions relating to factual, legal, or political issues arising in the case are re-examined in the international court. The margin of appreciation is the extent to which national legislative, executive, and judicial decision-makers are allowed to reflect diversity in their interpretation of human rights obligations. The book begins by providing an overview of the margin of appreciation and standard of review, recognising that while the margin of appreciation explicitly acknowledges the existence of such deference, the standard of review does not: it is rather a procedural mechanism. It looks in-depth at how the public policy exception has been assessed by the European Court of Justice and the WTO dispute settlement bodies. It examines how the European Court of Human Rights has taken an evidence-based approach towards the margin of appreciation, as well as how it has addressed issues of hate speech. The Inter-American system is also investigated, and it is established how far deference is possible within that legal organisation. Finally, the book studies how a range of other international courts, such as the International Criminal Court, and the Law of the Sea Tribunal, have approached these two core doctrines.

The most important sipgle factor in guaranteeing the effective pro tection of human rights - including economic and property interest- is that private individuals and groups be capable of maintaining a judicial action against any sovereign State causing them injury. Thus, individuals must possess the necessary locus standi at both the regional and international levels. A private individual must be able to prosecute an action before an international tribunal - in his own name - against an offending Government, particularly his own. Unfortunately, this necessary right of action was not recognized under traditional internatio nallaw. It is only very recently, since the adoption of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Establishing Treaty of the Common Market, that nongovernmental entities have achieved locus standi before international courts. As this book is being written, it is no longer valid to hold that only States are procedural subjects of international law. Nevertheless, it must - tragically - be conceded that individuals do not enjoy the same standing as Member States. This same generalization applies to the United Nations. Starting with the proposition that the individual is a subject of the Law, this book not only analyses examples supporting this viewpoint, but it concentrates on the more important shortcomings, primarily those existing within the Council of Europe, the European Economic Community, and the United Nations. Therefore, recommendations are offered as to the specific improvements that must be made.

The International Court of Justice and the Effectiveness of International Law, by Philippe Couvreur, Registrar of the ICJ, offers an account of the history and main achievements of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the only court with universal and general jurisdiction.

International Criminal Procedure: Principles and Rules is a comprehensive study of international criminal proceedings written by over forty leading experts in the field. The book offers a systematic overview and detailed comparison of the standards governing the conduct of proceedings in all major international and internationalized criminal courts from the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals to the recently established Cambodian Extraordinary Chambers and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Based on a major research project, the study covers all procedural phases from the initiation of investigation to the appeals process. It pays special attention to the crosscutting themes which shape the contemporary discourse on international criminal justice, including the law of evidence, the defence issues, the procedural role of victims, and negotiated dismissal of international crime cases. The book not only takes stock of the procedural legacy of the UN ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, but also reflects on the future directions of international criminal procedure. Investigating the tribunals' procedural law and practice through the prism of human rights law, domestic legal traditions, and tribunals' special objectives, the expert group puts forth proposals on how the challenges facing international criminal jurisdictions can best be met. International Criminal Procedure will be an indispensable work for practitioners involved in the adjudication of serious crimes on both national and international level, as well as international law students and academics.

This book explores recent contributions of the case-law of international courts and tribunals to the development of international law. It begins by looking at how such case-law has contributed to the development of the methodology of international law and to the development of procedural rules. It further examines recent contributions from three major players in the international judicial arena: the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the mechanisms for Investor-State Dispute Settlement. The contributors are well-established academics and practitioners as well as emerging voices in international law, coming from a rich and diverse regional background.

This monograph provides an extensive analysis of the powers of judicial review exercised by the International Court of Justice with respect to judgments of the Administrative Tribunals of the International Labour Organization and the United Nations. The grounds on which these judgments can be challenged include excess jurisdiction, procedural errors and errors of law relative to the Charter of the United Nations. The system, however, suffers from a number of difficulties, including lack of procedural equality, the propriety of employing the Court's advisory jurisdiction in employer-employee disputes, and the nature of the activities of the Review Committee of the General Assembly. These problems are examined with a view to shedding light on the nature, scope and extent of the Court's powers of judicial review. The main study is preceded by an exhaustive survey of the genesis of the review system established by the Statutes of these Tribunals. Included also in this volume is an account of the informal and rudimentary judicial review arrangement the Court enjoys by way of its advisory and contentious jurisdiction with respect to institutional action other than that of UNAT and ILOAT judgments. When in 1995 the General Assembly abolished the UNAT review system, various considerations were in the forefront: a detailed survey of which is provided in the penultimate part of the book. Several significant themes are explored in the concluding chapter. These include issues dealing with the motivation for establishing the review system, the divisions within the Court and possible reform, as opposed to abolition, of the system.

This work analyzes the jurisdictional powers of international tribunals in certain areas of fundamental significance and importance. It clarifies how tribunals and consensual arrangements have approached problems and which general principles may have emerged. Special aspects of jurisdiction of some particular tribunals have been studied in greater detail. These are: the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice, the ICSID arbitration tribunals, the administrative tribunals covering disputes between international organizations and their employees, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. The choice of these tribunals has been based on the distinctive character of each one of them in the context of modern international legal relations. This work will be of interest to practitioners involved in the current practice of these courts and tribunals as well as academics studying the more general principles.