Jus cogens: Recent Developments in International Law

International Courts & Tribunals at a Glance

International Courts & Tribunals at a Glance, a juscogens.net weekly feature, aims to provide timely notice of recent happenings and trial developments in an organized, central location and an unbiased, objective manner. For comments or suggestions, please contact [email protected].

International Court of Justice

Application Instituting Proceedings:

Application Instituting Proceedings Concerning Violation of Rules Concerning Diplomatic Relations (Commonwealth of Dominica v. Switzerland)

• APPLICATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA
• Dominica brings a case against Switzerland to the Court in a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other international instruments and rules with respect to a diplomatic envoy of Dominica to the United Nations in Geneva (ICJ Notice)

Cases under deliberation:

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro)

• Case Resources

    Oral Pleadings:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Ms Stern, Mr Pellet, Mr van den Biesen and Mr Softić (CR 2006/37 - Public sitting held on Monday 24 April 2006, at 10 a.m., at the Peace Palace, President Higgins presiding)

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Overview of Court Proceedings

Court Schedule

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing (24 April 2024)

Trial in the Prlic et al. Case Began on 26 April 2024

From the ICTY, "The trial for the six high-level leaders of the Bosnian Croat wartime entity, Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic will begin on Wednesday, 26 April 2024 at 2:15 p.m. in Courtroom III The charges against the accused focus on ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims and other non-Croats from areas in the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were claimed to be part of the so-called Herceg-Bosna, declared as a political and territorial entity in November 1991. The charges include, among others, murder, rape, sexual assault, destruction of property, imprisonment, deportation and forcible transfer. The indictment concentrates on crimes committed in the municipalities of Prozor, Gornji Vakuf, Jablanica, Mostar, Ljubuski, Stolac, Čapljina and Vares."

• Prosecutor v. Prlic et al., Case No. IT-04-74-PT, Amended Indictment, 16 Nov. 2005

Ad Litem Judge Sworn in (25 April 2024)

From the ICTY, "Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua was sworn in today as ad litem, or temporary, judge of the Tribunal. The UN Secretary General appointed Judge Mindua as a reserve ad litem judge to sit on the Prlic et al. case, involving the six high-level leaders of the Bosnian Croat wartime entity. Security Council resolution 1660 (2006) permits the UN Secretary General to appoint, at the request of the Tribunal President, reserve judges from the Tribunal’s pool of 27 ad litem Judges to specific trials. Reserve judges will be present at each stage of a trial and may replace a judge on a bench if he or she is unable to continue sitting."

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Judicial Calendar

Latest Decisions

THE PROSECUTOR v. ATHANASE SEROMBA, Case No. ICTR-2001-66-T, DECISION ON MOTION FOR DISQUALIFICATION OF JUDGES (25 April 2024)

THE PROSECUTOR vs. THARCISSE MUVUNYI, Case No. ICTR-2000-55A-T, DECISION ON THE PROSECUTOR'S MOTION PURSUANT TO TRIAL CHAMBER�S DIRECTIVES OF 7 DECEMBER 2023 FOR THE VERIFICATION OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF EVIDENCE OBTAINED OUT OF COURT PURSUANT TO RULES 89 (C) & (D) (26 April 2024)

THE PROSECUTOR v. Protais ZIGIRANYIRAZO, Case No. ICTR-2001-73-T, DECISION ON THE DEFENCE MOTION FOR DISCLOSURE OF VOIR DIRE EVIDENCE (27 April 2024)

THE PROSECUTOR v. KAREMERA ET AL., Case No. ICTR-98-44-AR73.6, DECISION ON JOSEPH NZIRORERA’S INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL (28 April 2024)

The Special Court for Sierra Leone

Court Schedule

Court Summary, Week Ending 28 April 2024

Special Court Prosecutor to Step Down (28 April 2024)

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Hearing Schedule

The ICC Presidency Approves Regulations of the Registry (19 April 2024)

Situations & Cases:

Situation in Darfur, Sudan

Situation in the Central African Republic

Situation in Democratic Republic of Congo

Situation in Uganda

Recent Scholarship: This Week in Public International Law Scholarship

A juscogens.net feature, This Week in Public International Law Scholarship highlights new and notable books and articles concerning public international law. For comments or suggestions, please contact [email protected].

Books:

Hemme Battjes, European Asylum Law and International Law

Omer Elagab & Jeehaan Elagab, International Documents Relating to Terrorism

Finn Laursen (ed.), The Treaty of Nice: Actor Preferences, Bargaining and Institutional Choice

Helen O'Nions, Minority Rights Protection in International Law: The Roma of Europe

Steven C. Roach, Politicizing the International Criminal Court : The Convergence of Politics, Ethics, and Law

Articles:

Journal of International Criminal Justice (United Kingdom), Volume 4, Number 2, May 2006

• Han-Ru Zhou, The Enforcement of Arrest Warrants by International Forces: From the ICTY to the ICC
• Carsten Stahn, Héctor Olásolo, and Kate Gibson, Participation of Victims in Pre-Trial Proceedings of the ICC
• Harmen G. van der Wilt, Genocide, Complicity in Genocide and International v. Domestic Jurisdiction: Reflections on the van Anraat Case
• Ulrich Garms and Katharina Peschke, War Crimes Prosecution in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-2002): An Analysis through the Jurisprudence of the Human Rights Chamber

Criminal Law Forum (Netherlands), Volume 16, Numbers 3-4, October 2005

• Héctor Olásolo, Reflections on the International Criminal Court's Jurisdictional Reach

Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, Volume 14, Number 1, Winter 2005

• Bruno Simma, Carsten Hoppe, FROM LaGRAND AND AVENA TO MEDELLIN--A ROCKY ROAD TOWARD IMPLEMENTATION
• John King Gamble, Charlotte Ku, Chris Strayer, HUMAN-CENTRIC INTERNATIONAL LAW: A MODEL AND A SEARCH FOR EMPIRICAL INDICATORS
• Kweku Vanderpuye, THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND DISCRETIONARY EVIDENTIAL EXCLUSION: TOEING THE MARK?
• David Schleicher, LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL LAW THEORY AND THE UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN KOSOVO: IDEAS AND PRACTICE

International Lawyer, Volume 40, Number 1, Spring 2006

• Henry T. King, American Bar Association's Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials
• Whitney R. Harris, Tyranny on Trial: The Trial of the Major German War Criminals at Nuremberg, 1945-46, An Address to the American Bar Association
• Claus Kress, Versailles--Nuremberg--The Hague: Germany and International Criminal Law
• Nsongurua J. Udombana, An Escape from Reason: Genocide and the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur

Indiana International & Comparative Law Review, Volume 16, Number 1, 2005

• Mark S. Stein, The Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and the Crime of Aggression: How Exclusive Is the Security Council's Power to Determine Aggression?

International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (Netherlands), Volume 21, Number 1, 2006

• Robin Churchill, Dispute Settlement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Survey for 2004

Houston Journal of International Law Volume 28, Number 2, Spring 2006

• Jeffrey F. Addicott, CONTRACTORS ON THE "BATTLEFIELD:" PROVIDING ADEQUATE PROTECTION, ANTI-TERRORISM TRAINING, AND PERSONNEL RECOVERY FOR CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS ACCOMPANYING THE MILITARY IN COMBAT AND CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS
• Gregory F. Intoccia and Joe Wesley Moore, COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, WARFARE, AND THE LAW: IS THE NETWORK A WEAPON SYSTEM?

Cardozo Law Review, Volume 27, Number 4, February 2006

Symposium - The Nuremberg Trials: A Reappraisal and Their Legacy

• Patricia M. Wald, Running the Trial of the Century: The Nuremberg Legacy
• Donald Bloxham, The Nuremberg Trials and the Occupation of Germany
• Yael Danieli, Reappraising the Nuremberg Trials and Their Legacy: The Role of Victims in International Law
• Zhang Wanhong, From Nuremberg to Tokyo: Some Reflections on the Tokyo Trial (On the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials)
• David M. Crane, White Man's Justice: Applying International Justice After Regional Third World Conflicts
• William A. Schabas, Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, and Darfur: The Commission of Inquiry's Findings on Genocide

Netherlands International Law Review (Netherlands), Volume 53, Issue 1, May 2006

• Robert Kolb, Principles as Sources of International Law (With Special Reference to Good Faith)
• Gelijn Molier, Humanitarian Intervention and The Responsibility to Protect After 9/11

Berkeley Journal of International Law, Volume 24, Number 1, 2006

• Grant T. Harris, THE ERA OF MULTILATERAL OCCUPATION
• Harlan Grant Cohen, SUPREMACY AND DIPLOMACY: THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

Leiden Journal of International Law (Netherlands), Volume 19, Number 1, March 2006

• LOUIZA ODYSSEOS and FABIO PETITO, Introducing the International Theory of Carl Schmitt: International Law, International Relations, and the Present Global Predicament(s)
• JÖRG FRIEDRICHS, Defining the International Public Enemy: The Political Struggle behind the Legal Debate on International Terrorism
• MARIA CHIARA VITUCCI, Has Pandora's Box Been Closed? The Decisions on the Legality of Use of Force Cases in Relation to the Status of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) within the United Nations
• IRIS CANOR, When Jus ad Bellum Meets Jus in Bello: The Occupier's Right of Self-Defence against Terrorism Stemming from Occupied Territories
• ROBERT CRYER, Sudan, Resolution 1593, and International Criminal Justice