STL: in absentia - the only way?

The first hearing on trials in absentia under international law will take place before the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon on November 11. The defence and the prosecution will present arguments on moving into absentia proceedings. The STL is the anomaly in the family of international courts. Its Statute is the only one that permits trials in absentia. This marks a significant departure from current practice and procedure in relation to international law. But there is no convincing justification for this yet, say experts. Read more...>

Green light - Sweden to Rwanda genocide extradition

The long-awaited judgement in the case of Ahorugeze v Sweden was delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 27 October. Judges decided that Sylvere Ahorugeze’s extradition to Rwanda would not breach the European Convention on Human Rights: his extradition would not expose him to a real risk of ill-treatment (Article 3) and it conformed with his rights to a fair trial, guaranteed by Article 6. Read more...>

Guilty - Argentina dirty war commanders

A historic ruling convicting 16 people accused of crimes against humanity was handed down by a Federal Court in Buenos Aires on October 26. They were convicted of arbitrary detention, torture and unlawful killing, committed at the Naval Mechanical School (ESMA) during the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Read more...>

ECHR: power to the people

Reforms are desperately needed by the European Court of Human Rights – the supra-national court for citizens in 47 countries, which belong to the Council of Europe. It is based on the European Convention on Human Rights – the only international human rights agreement that provides the individual with a high degree of protection. Read more...>

ICC elections – political savvy required?

With the December election date for a new International Criminal Court prosecutor drawing near observers are urging ICC members to avoid the pitfall of politics when choosing a replacement for Luis Moreno Ocampo. Read more...>

Seselj – ICTY master spoiler

Serb ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj has launched a new strategy to derail proceedings against him at the ICTY. The self-proclaimed “greatest living Serbian lawyer” who has represented himself before the court for the last eight years, boasting he has already won, abruptly turned into a layman-accused who “does not and could not understand” a one-page, one-count contempt of court indictment without privileged communication with his legal advisers. Read more...>

Netherlands may send Ingabire documents to Rwanda

The Netherlands has been granted permission to send documents of the imprisoned Rwandan opposition figure Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza to Rwanda for the purpose of her trial in Kigali. The judge stated there are no compelling grounds to prevent this. This was ruled today in an interim injunction by the court in The Hague. The Dutch state therefore agrees with judicial assistance to Rwanda. Read more...>

Amnesty not applicable for KRouge defendant

Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal has rejected a plea from the Khmer Rouge regime's former foreign minister that he is protected from genocide charges by a 15-year-old royal pardon and amnesty. Read more...>

Hezbollah and the Lebanon tribunal – paying for your pariah

The funding of the special tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is a divisive issue in Lebanese politics. Lebanon must pay its share of the annual budget in a few weeks but five months after the release of the first indictments many here doubt if Lebanese politicians will manage to agree. Read more...>

Viktor Bout found guilty over arms traffic

On Wednesday, a Russian arms dealer, dubbed "the merchant of death," guilty of conspiring to sell a huge arsenal to US-designated terrorists, in a case that has angered Moscow was found guilty. Read more...>

Bangladesh war crimes defence 'harassed'

Human Rights Watch called on Thursday for Bangladesh to investigate threats to defence lawyers and witnesses at a court probing alleged war crimes from the nation's 1971 war of independence. Read more...>

CC looks into possible Nato crimes in Libya

The International Criminal Court says it will probe serious crimes committed during this year's fighting in Libya by troops loyal to former leader Moammar Gaddafi as well as NATO and revolutionary forces. Read more...>

Afghan 'kill team' trial

Lawyers began presenting their case in US court martial for head of a rogue US army unit, charged with killing Afghan civilians for sport. Read more...>

Rwanda to extradite warlord Nkunda to Congo?

Rwanda is open to extraditing Laurent Nkunda as long as he does not face the death penalty in his homeland. Once feared in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the former Congolese rebel leader has been living under house arrest in the Rwandan capital Kigali for more than two years. What happens to Nkunda could influence relations between Kinshasa and Kigali. Congo wants him extradited for war crimes, but Rwanda says it should be done in a way that it avoids "conflict of law". Read more...>

Oscar Mejia Victores deemed unfit for trial

Guatemalan medical experts have determined that 80-year-old former dictator Oscar Mejia Victores is too sick to stand trial for genocide and war crimes, justice officials said. Read more...>