Hague Seminar in International Criminal Law

Form 17-23 January 2010, the Hague Academy of International Law is organising a seminar on international criminal law. The annual seminar series is described as a 'programme of advanced studies devoted to various aspects of public and private international law, aimed especially at legal professionals who are already familiar with international law and whose professional interest or intellectual curiosity brings to seek further professional training in this area'. For more information:
http://www.hagueacademy.nl/?seminar-for-advanced-studies-programme

Blog Banned in China

A Chinese source tells me that my blog has been banned once again. Last year, when I was in China, it was impossible to access. But I was told that this was standard and that all blogs were blocked. Then, at the time of the Olympics, things opened up and my blog was accessible. I checked this personally on another trip to China. Now I’m told it is back on the shit list. I can't believe that the Chinese authorities really think this sort of thing can keep information out of China. I'm also puzzled that they find my blog so objectionable. I would have thought they would have enjoyed the spoof on George Bush last 1 April.
Thanks to … a friend in China.

Ruggie Report Available

Those of you who follow John Ruggie, the Special Representative for Business and Human Rights, will want to see his latest report: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/11session/A.HRC.11.13.pdf
See also the supplementary documents at http://www.business-humanrights.org/Gettingstarted/UNSpecialRepresentative.
Thanks to Bruce Broomhall.

Award for Yvonne McDermott

Yvonne McDermott, who is a PhD student at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, has been awarded the 2009 'Böhler Franken Koppe Wijngaarden advocaten /Hague Academic Coalition Award for Young Professionals'. The award is for her article entitled 'Victims and International Law: Remedies in the Courtroom'. Yvonne receives a 1000 euro prize, and the opportunity to submit the article for publication in the journal of the Hague Justice Portal. For more details, see: http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/10/002.html
Congratulations, Yvonne.

Rwandan génocidaire Convicted by Canadian Court

Désiré Munyaneza was convicted today by a Canadian court of committing genocide in Rwanda during 1994. Here is the judgment, in English: www.jugements.qc.ca
Here are some Canadian news reports: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gW8xZ_BIqxR2D7XDP3sz6HcwpzWA; http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/munyaneza-becomes-canadas-first-convicted-war-criminal/article1148631/
The 560-page judgment was issued by Quebec Superior Court judge André Denis. The trial was held without a jury, a choice that was made by the defendant in accordance with provisions of Canadian law.
After the Eichmann and Finta trials, involving second world war atrocities, this is probably the most significant and complex trial held on the basis of universal jurisdiction. Munyaneza had come to Canada in 1997, and was arrested in 2005 following an investigation. His trial has taken about two years. It is the first conviction by Canadian courts on the basis of universal jurisdiction.
Thanks to John McManus.

Kononov Case at European Court of Human Rights

Yesterday, I had the thrilling experience of arguing a case before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights: Kononov v. Latvia. I was counsel for the Government of Latvia, which was seeking to overturn a ruling by a Chamber of the Court issued last July. The judgment is expected later this year.
The webcast of the hearing, along with explanatory documents, is available on the website of the Court: http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Press/Multimedia/Webcasts+of+public+hearings/. The case raises fascinating issues about retroactivity of criminal law, and the scope of the customary law concerning war crimes applicable in 1944, when the facts arose.
We arrived at the Court first thing in the morning. All of the teams were invited together to a short meeting with the President of the Court, Judge Costa, at which the format of the proceedings was discussed. At the meeting, we were two for Latvia, myself and the agent, there were two for Kononov, and two for the Russian Federation, which intervened in the case because Kononov is a Russian citizen. During the hearing itself, each of the two parties had 30 minutes for a presentation, and the intervenor, Russia, had 15. We expected there would be many questions from the judges, but there were none. We adjourned for a few minutes, and then each side had a short rebuttal. There was an audience of perhaps 150 people in the courtroom, and many journalists, including TV interviewers outside. I think there was a lot of media coverage of the hearing in the Russian and Latvian press.

Kindler Still Alive (and Well?)

Students of international law on the death penalty will know the name Joseph Kindler. His application to the United Nations Human Rights Committee was dismissed (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/a442324952271a678025673000413d76?Opendocument), back in 1993, after he failed to fight extradition from Canada to the United States, where he had already been sentenced to death. Kindler was in the news last week, because the United States Supreme Court has just granted leave to appeal a ruling from the Pennsylvania Court of Appeal concerning a challenge brought by Kindler. It is now 18 years since he was extradited from Canada! Here is the application, which was granted by the Court: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/08-992_pet.pdf.
By the way, the Human Rights Committee ruling has since been reversed: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRC,,CAN,4562d94e2,404887ef3,0.html. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that led to his extradition has also been reversed: http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2001/2001scc7/2001scc7.html.
Thanks to Mark Warren.

Selected Decisions of the Committee Against Torture

The first volume of 'Selected Decisions of the Committee Against Torture' is available on line in pdf format:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/SDecisionsCATVolIen.pdf
This useful volume facilitates searching the case law of the Committee.

Independent Fact Finding Commission on Gaza Report

The Independent Fact Finding Commission on Gaza, chaired by Professor John Dugard, has presented its report to the League of Arab States:
http://www.filedropper.com/reportoftheindependentfactfindingcommitteeongaza30april2009final
The report concludes that war crimes were committed by both sides in the conflict, and that Israel was also responsible for commission of crimes against humanity. It has an interesting discussion about the relevance of genocide charges but finds that this cannot be sustained. The report also discusses the validity of the declaration of jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court by the Palestinian Authority. It says that if the Security Council does not trigger the situation to the Court, the General Assembly should take action under the Uniting for Peace resolution.
Another report, prepared by an independent investigative body chaired by Ian Martin, was presented to the United Nations Secretary General last month:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30706&Cr=gaza&Cr1=inquiry
I don't believe that the report itself is in the public domain. Ban Ki Moon has sent it to the Security Council. According to a media account issued last week, the report condemned Israel for war crimes, and was in turn condemned by Israel for being one-sided:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6229545.ece

In memoriam: Henry T. King, Nuremberg Prosecutor

Henry T. King, Jr., who worked as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trial, died on Saturday, 9 May 2009, just a few weeks before his 90th birthday. Henry’s last televised speaking appearance was with me on a panel entitled “High Crimes, High Drama,” at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland on 10 December 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z7IRYpQ5CA)
Henry was still working as a professor at the Case Western University School of Law at the time of his death. Michael Scharf, who directs the Cox Centre at Case, writes:

At the age of 25, fresh out of Yale Law School (B.A. 1941, LL.B. 1943), Henry
was hired as the youngest Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. At Nuremberg,
Henry worked on the Justice and Ministries cases, led the prosecution of former
Luftwaffe Field Marshall Erhard Milch, deputy head of the Luftwaffe under
Hermann Goering, in the High Command trial. Henry interrogated many of the major
Nuremberg defendants, including Albert Speer, who Henry later chronicled in a
critically acclaimed book, The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a
Nuremberg Prosecutor. (http://www.lauferfilm.com/king/)

Upon returning to the United States, Henry served as director of the Agency for
International Development during the Eisenhower Administration, and worked as a
chief corporate international counsel for more than twenty years with TRW Inc.,
and later was of counsel at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. He then joined
the faculty of Case Western Reserve, where he taught International Business and
International Arbitration, both favorites of our students that consistently had
long wait lists.

Through the conferences he organized in the late 1980s
as Chairman of the Canada-United States Law Institute, Henry played an integral
role in facilitating the drafting and negotiation of the North American Free
Trade Agreement.

In 1998, Henry and two other 80-something-year-old
former Nuremberg prosecutors, Whitney Harris and Ben Ferencz, participated in
the Rome diplomatic conference to create a permanent international criminal
court and used their unique moral authority, dogged persistence, and skills of
persuasion to convince the delegates to include the crime of aggression in the
Court’s statute (pending agreement on a definition and trigger mechanism). Last
fall, in cooperation with the President of the ICC Assembly of States Parties,
Henry co-chaired a conference and experts meeting on “The ICC and the Crime of
Aggression” at Case Western Reserve, which developed proposals that
significantly advanced the effort to define the crime and the conditions under
which the Court could exercise its jurisdiction over it.

Henry was an influential leader of the American Bar Association, serving in the 1950s as Chair of the International Law Section, and later as a member of the ABA’s
special task force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. In addition he was
the U.S. chairman of a joint working group, organized by the American, Canadian,
and Mexican bar associations, on the settlement of international disputes. Henry
also founded the 200-member Greater Cleveland International Lawyers Group.

In 2004, Henry was appointed Canada’s Honorary Consul General for
Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. The Canadian Government, U.S. Department of
Justice Office of Special Investigations, Robert H. Jackson Center, and Case
Western Reserve University President Barbara Snyder, among others, paid tribute
to Henry at a recent event honoring his 65 years of accomplishments and public
service.

At a luncheon session that I attended a few months ago in which
Henry reflected on insights gained over the years, he told the standing-room
crowd of students that “the most important thing is to find some way to leave
your mark for the betterment of society and the world.” Henry left his mark in a
big way. His life’s work and dedication to international justice is an
inspiration. He will be missed terribly.