Traumatised Witnesses In International Criminal Trials

This book focuses on the testimonial evidence of traumatised witnesses in trials of international crimes, which deal with acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Such trials often involve the testimonies of those who experienced or witnessed extremely traumatic events, which can make it hard for these witnesses to recall specific details. Testifying during trial may in itself also pose challenges to their well-being. Yet the legal process of determining whether someone can be held criminally responsible for the alleged crimes needs to be fair, in accordance with the right to a fair trial of the accused, and the facts need to be determined as accurately as possible. This book argues that to ensure fair and accurate fact-finding when in particular traumatised witnesses testify, a balance needs to be struck between the needs of witnesses who testify about traumatic experiences, the fair trial rights of the accused and the objective of the court to establish as accurately as possible the responsibility of the accused. This is crucial throughout the stages of selecting, preparing, presenting and assessing the testimonial evidence of traumatised witnesses. The methodology involves an analysis of transcripts of proceedings and case law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and Dutch courts prosecuting international crimes. The research demonstrates that it is often difficult to strike a balance between the competing objectives during proceedings when traumatised witnesses testify due to the current lack of regulations and guidelines applicable during investigations and prosecutions. This book shows that this balance can, and should, be achieved when traumatised witnesses testify during criminal proceedings for international crimes. The work is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics and practitioners in criminal law, criminology, legal psychology, legal psychiatry, social anthropology and forensic sciences.

This book focuses on the testimonial evidence of traumatised witnesses in trials of international crimes, which deal with acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Such trials often involve the testimonies of those who experienced or witnessed extremely traumatic events, which can make it hard for these witnesses to recall specific details. Testifying during trial may in itself also pose challenges to their well-being. Yet the legal process of determining whether someone can be held criminally responsible for the alleged crimes needs to be fair, in accordance with the right to a fair trial of the accused, and the facts need to be determined as accurately as possible. This book argues that to ensure fair and accurate fact-finding when in particular traumatised witnesses testify, a balance needs to be struck between the needs of witnesses who testify about traumatic experiences, the fair trial rights of the accused, and the objective of the court to establish as accurately as possible the responsibility of the accused. This is crucial throughout the stages of selecting, preparing, presenting and assessing the testimonial evidence of traumatised witnesses. The methodology involves an analysis of transcripts of proceedings and case law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court, and Dutch courts prosecuting international crimes. The research demonstrates that it is often difficult to strike a balance between the competing objectives during proceedings when traumatised witnesses testify due to the current lack of regulations and guidelines applicable during investigations and prosecutions. This book shows that this balance can, and should, be achieved when traumatised witnesses testify during criminal proceedings for international crimes. The work is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics and practitioners in criminal law, criminology, legal-psychology, legal-psychiatry, social anthropology and forensic sciences.

How do genocide and war crimes survivors become legal witnesses? Some fifty years after the criminal prosecutions of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals of World War Two, we have yet to fully understand how law codifies the traumas of genocides and war crimes. This problem has taken on a new importance following the establishment of the international criminal tribunals in the 1990s, as well as an increasing concern with the appropriate legal resolution of war crimes in post-conflict societies such as Iraq. Against this background, Testifying to Trauma examines the processes by which victims' narratives of trauma become legal testimony: investigating how the transformation of individual trauma into a codified collective violation has ramifications for individual, collective and legal identities. More specifically, this book addresses the historical and political contexts of the current legal codifications of trauma. And, through detailed attention to the various renderings of time and memory which underwrite the dissonance between personal experiences and legal narratives of trauma, its authors provide an original analysis and understanding of the technologies through which trauma is codified in international law.

Some injustices are so massive, so heinous, and so extraordinary that ordinary courts are no longer adequate. The creation of international courts and tribunals to confront major violations of human rights sought to bring justice to affected communities as well as to the entire world. Yet if justice is a righting of the imbalance between what has happened and what is reflected in the law, no amount of punishment and no judgment could compensate for that suffering and loss. In order to understand the meaning of justice, James David Meernik and Kimi Lynn King studied the perspective of witnesses who have testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Using a unique survey, Meernik and King look at the identity of the victims and their perception of the fairness of ICTY. Because of the need to justify the practical and emotional difficulties involved in testifying before an international tribunal, witnesses look not just to the institution to judge its effectiveness, but also to their own contribution, by testifying effectively. The central elements of the theory Meernik and King develop—identity, fairness, and experience—transcend specific conflicts and specific countries and are of importance to people everywhere.

It is often only years after the commission of core international crimes that prosecutions and investigations take place. This anthology addresses challenges associated with such delayed justice: the location, treatment, and assessment of old evidence. Part I considers the topic from the perspective of different actors involved in the prosecution of core international crimes at the domestic and international levels. Part II comprises chapters focusing on the efforts of the Bangladeshi authorities to investigate and prosecute international crimes perpetrated during the 1971 war. This book brings together experienced judges, prosecutors, lawyers, scientists, and commentators who have dealt with questions of old evidence in their work. Among the contributors are Shafique Ahmed, Andrew Cayley, David Cohen, Seena Fazel, Siri S. Frigaard, M. Amir-Ul Islam, Md. Shahinur Islam, Agnieszka Klonowiecka-Milart, Alphons M.M. Orie, Stephen J. Rapp, Patrick J. Treanor, Otto Triffterer and Martin Witteveen. The chapters describe the challenges encountered in practice and suggest concrete solutions that can be tailored to fit the circumstances of the case or country. By providing a comprehensive analysis of the relevant problems in this area and a variety of views, this anthology will serve as an invaluable resource for criminal justice actors and researchers seeking to address questions of old evidence.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the major areas of international criminal law (ICL). It approaches its subject matter from both a criminal law and an international law perspective, analysing the various topics exhaustively but in an accessible manner. While looking at the jurisprudence of the international tribunals, it is not confined to this approach, instead looking at all the fields in which ICL is employed. Thus it covers the theory of ICL, including the concepts of individual responsibility, the sources of ICL, State criminality, legality and legitimacy; the subjective (mens rea) and objective (actus reus) elements of international crimes and the particular position of the International Criminal Court Statute; the various modes of liability and participation in international crimes; the doctrine of command responsibility; defences and grounds for excluding liability; immunities; an extensive analysis of all war crimes; crimes against humanity; genocide; the crime of aggression; international criminal law of the sea, including piracy, armed robbery at sea, pollution-related offences, fisheries-related offences, maritime terrorism, injury to cables and pipelines, illegal broadcasting and enforcement against such offences; transnational crimes, including organised crime, corruption, money laundering, illicit trafficking of drugs and postal offences; particular international offences against the person, especially slavery and related practices, apartheid, enforced disappearances and torture; the legal contours of the crime of terrorism; an analysis of the historical development of ICL and of the legal processes relating to the Nuremberg Tribunal; an analysis of the UN tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda; an examination of the International Criminal Court; an analysis of hybrid internationalised tribunals, such as those of Iraq, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, East Timor, Kosovo, Lebanon and Lockerbie, as well as an examination of truth commissions and amnesties; the various strands of criminal jurisdiction, and; the different modes of inter-State cooperation in criminal matters, including cooperation with international tribunals, extradition, illegal rendition and mutual legal assistance.

Mental health law is a rapidly evolving area of practice and research, with growing global dimensions. This work reflects the increasing importance of this field, critically discussing key issues of controversy and debate, and providing up-to-date analysis of cutting-edge developments in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Australia. This is a timely moment for this book to appear. The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) sought to transform the landscape in which mental health law is developed and implemented. This Convention, along with other developments, has, to varying degrees, informed sweeping legislative reforms in many countries around the world. These and other developments are discussed here. Contributors come from a wide range of countries and a variety of academic backgrounds including ethics, law, philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology. Some contributions are also informed by lived experience, whether in person or as family members. The result is a rich, polyphonic, and sometimes discordant account of what mental health law is and what it might be. The Handbook is aimed at mental health scholars and practitioners as well as students of law, human rights, disability studies, and psychiatry, and campaigners and law- and policy-makers.