Universal Jurisdiction Over Operation of a Pirate Ship: the Legality of the Evolving Piracy Definition in Regional Prosecutions
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The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction Is Classically Defined As 'A Legal
THE SCOPE AND APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION: THE REPORT OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE A/64/452-RES 64/117 COMMENTS FROM KENYA The principle of universal jurisdiction is classically defined as 'a legal principle allowing or requiring a state to bring criminal proceedings in respect of certain crimes irrespective of the location of the crime and the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim';' The rationale behind it is based on the notion that 'certain crimes are so harmful to international interests that states are obliged to bring proceedings against the perpetrator, regardless of the location of the crime and the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim'. Universal jurisdiction allows for the trial of international crimes committed by anybody, anywhere in the world. '2 There are aspects of the principle of universal jurisdiction- such as the compatibility of the ICC statute with constitutional provisions to the immunity of Heads of State and amnesty laws - that have been considered recently. Buttressed by the aut dedere aut judicare principle, States have increasingly implemented the principles of universal jurisdiction and complementarity in a more systematic and concrete manner through their national legislation. The preamble to the ICC Statute contains the universal jurisdiction principle: (aut dedere aut judicare principle) which provides: 'Affirming that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and that their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and by enhancing international cooperation' (para. 4); (universal jurisdiction) 'Recalling that it is the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes' (para. -
A) Universal Jurisdiction
PGA commentary to the selected provisions of the Bill on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of the International Criminal and Humanitarian Law no. 2689 09 March 2021 A) Universal Jurisdiction 1. Does universal jurisdiction enshrined in criminal laws of a certain State, such as the State extending its domestic criminal law on the crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression irrespective of the place where they were committed, constitute interference in the sovereignty of foreign countries? No, it doesn’t. According to the classical doctrine relating to ordinary crimes, the exercise of criminal jurisdiction is regarded as an ‘aspect’ or ‘manifestation’ of the sovereignty of a State1. This stems from practical and logical consequences of territorial control, as it is the territorial State where the crime occurred that has primary responsibility for investigations and prosecutions in the exercise of its sovereign powers, as such State is usually best placed to gather evidence, secure witnesses and ensure that justice is given to those most affected. However, if the territorial State is unable or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction, there needs to be a complementary tool to ensure that an accused person does not escape criminal accountability for the crimes that he or she may have committed in a given territory. A fortiori, the same logic applies to the most serious crimes of international concern. These crimes are labelled as “international crimes” or, to be more precise, “crimes under International Law” or “crimes against International Law” (delicta juris gentium). Given their extreme gravity, they do not affect the sovereignty of an individual State, but they affect the sovereignty of all States, rendering their suppression a joint concern of all members of the international community. -
Piracy, Illicit Trade, and the Construction of Commercial
Navigating the Atlantic World: Piracy, Illicit Trade, and the Construction of Commercial Networks, 1650-1791 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Jamie LeAnne Goodall, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2016 Dissertation Committee: Margaret Newell, Advisor John Brooke David Staley Copyright by Jamie LeAnne Goodall 2016 Abstract This dissertation seeks to move pirates and their economic relationships from the social and legal margins of the Atlantic world to the center of it and integrate them into the broader history of early modern colonization and commerce. In doing so, I examine piracy and illicit activities such as smuggling and shipwrecking through a new lens. They act as a form of economic engagement that could not only be used by empires and colonies as tools of competitive international trade, but also as activities that served to fuel the developing Caribbean-Atlantic economy, in many ways allowing the plantation economy of several Caribbean-Atlantic islands to flourish. Ultimately, in places like Jamaica and Barbados, the success of the plantation economy would eventually displace the opportunistic market of piracy and related activities. Plantations rarely eradicated these economies of opportunity, though, as these islands still served as important commercial hubs: ports loaded, unloaded, and repaired ships, taverns attracted a variety of visitors, and shipwrecking became a regulated form of employment. In places like Tortuga and the Bahamas where agricultural production was not as successful, illicit activities managed to maintain a foothold much longer. -
Southampton Student Law Review 2011 Volume 1, Issue 1
Southampton Student Law Review 2011 volume 1, issue 1 5 Southampton Student Law Review University of Southampton School of Law Published in the United Kingdom By the Southampton Student Law Review School of Law University of Southampton SO17 1BJ In affiliation with the University of Southampton School of Law All rights reserved. Copyright© 2011 University of Southampton. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature, without the prior, express written permission of the Southampton Student Law Review and the author, to whom all requests to reproduce copyright material should be directed, in writing. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the Editors of the Southampton Student Law Review. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this journal is correct, the Editors do not accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions, or for any resulting consequences. The Editors wish to thank Dr. Oren Ben Dor, Dr. Alun Gibbs and Ms Johanna Hjalmarsson. © 2011 Southampton Student Law Review ISSN 2047 - 1017 This volume should be cited (2011) 1 S.S.L.R. Editorial Board 2011 Editor Harry East Associate Editors Ross W Martin Emma Nottingham Thomas Webber Editorial Board Semande Ayihongbe Aysegul Bugra Dingjing Huang Haedong Jeon Assad Khan Konstantinos Kofopoulos Miao Li Ioanna Magklasi Siven Pillay Rungien Meixian Song Valerio Torti Jingbo Zhang Academic Advisors Dr. Oren Ben Dor Dr. Alun Gibbs Ms Johanna Hjalmarsson The editors wish to thank all members of the University of Southampton School of Law who have helped in the creation of this volume Table of Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................ -
German Court Exercises Universal Jurisdiction: Implications for Corporate Criminal Liability Under International Law
German court exercises universal jurisdiction: Implications for corporate criminal liability under international law 26 February 2021 On 24 February 2021, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Koblenz sentenced a former Syrian secret police officer to a prison term of four and a half years for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity (judgment of 24 February 2021, case No 1 StE 3/21). The court found that the accused had committed acts of torture and deprivation of liberty when he arrested and transported protesters to an interrogation centre with a known record of torture. While the defendant, a Syrian national, was arrested in the German city of Koblenz after he had been granted asylum in Germany, the crimes were committed in Syria and all victims and co-perpetrators are Syrian nationals. This notwithstanding, based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, the German court exercised jurisdiction over the case. The decision of the German court is the first judgment worldwide finding that the acts of the Syrian government constitute crimes against humanity. It serves as a reminder that gross violations of international law may trigger severe sanctions irrespective of where such violations are committed. Given the increasing tendency to expand criminal liability to corporations, this may equally affect companies that fail to ensure compliance of their worldwide business activities with international law. Universal jurisdiction The German court's decision is noteworthy beyond the facts of the individual case, as it is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. This widely acknowledged legal concept is followed by numerous states worldwide. It means that a state may investigate and prosecute certain crimes, irrespective of where the crimes were committed and irrespective of the nationality of the accused and victims. -
The Guatemala Genocide Cases: Universal Jurisdiction and Its Limits
© The Guatemala Genocide Cases: Universal Jurisdiction and Its Limits by Paul “Woody” Scott* INTRODUCTION Systematic murder, genocide, torture, terror and cruelty – all are words used to describe the campaigns of Guatemalan leaders, including President Jose Efrain Rios Montt, directed toward the indigenous Mayans in the Guatemalan campo. The United Nations-backed Truth Commission concludes that the state carried out deliberate acts of genocide against the Mayan indigenous populations.1 Since Julio Cesar Mendez Montenegro took Guatemalan presidential office in 1966, Guatemala was involved in a bloody civil war between the army and guerrilla groups located in the Guatemalan countryside. The bloodshed escalated as Montt, a fundamentalist Christian minister, rose to power in 1982 after taking part in a coup d’état and becoming the de facto president of Guatemala. He was in power for just sixteen months, considered by many to be the bloodiest period of Guatemala’s history.2 Under his sixteen-month rule, more than 200,000 people were victims of homicide or forced kidnappings, 83% of whom were of indigenous Mayan origin. Indigenous Mayans were targeted, killed, tortured, raped, and * Paul “Woody” Scott is an associate attorney with Jeri Flynn & Associates in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His practice is primarily immigration law and criminal defense, specializing in defending immigrants charged with criminal offenses, and deportation defense. He was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and moved to the United States at a very early age. He is fluent in both English and Spanish. 1 United Nations Office for Project Services [UNOPS], Commission for Historical Clarification [CEH], Conclusions and Recommendations, GUATEMALA, MEMORIA DEL SILENCIO [hereinafter, GUATEMALA, MEMORY OF SILENCE], Volume V, ¶ 26 (1999). -
The Discipline of Theseas
INSTITUTIONEN FÖR LITTERATUR, IDÉHISTORIA OCH RELIGION The Discipline of the Seas Piracy and polity in England: 1688–1698 Johan Berglund Björk Term: Spring 2020 Course ID: LIR207, 30 HEC Level: Master Supervisor: Johan Kärnfelt 1 Abstract Master’s thesis in history of ideas Title: The Discipline of the Seas: Piracy and Polity, 1688. Author: Johan Berglund Björk Year: Spring 2020 Department: The Faculty of Arts at the University of Gothenburg Supervisor: Johan Kärnfelt Examiner: Henrik Björk Keywords: Piracy; Henry Every; Matthew Tindall; Philip Meadows; subjecthood; sovereignty; jurisdiction. This thesis is a study of the changing legal and political climate surrounding piracy in England in the years 1688-1698, between the Glorious Revolution and the passing in parliament of the Piracy Act 1698. During this time views of piracy changed in London where pirates were no longer seen as beneficial, but instead as obstacles to orderly trade. The aim of this thesis is to investigate English legal and political-theoretical writing on piracy and sovereignty of the seas to further understanding of what kinds of legal spaces oceans were in early modern English political thought, and the role of pirates as actors in those spaces. This is achieved by a study of legal and theoretical texts, which focuses on the concepts subjecthood, jurisdiction and sovereignty in relation to piracy. I show that piracy became a blanket-term of delegitimization applied to former kings as well as poor sailors and that the English struggle for the suppression of piracy was ideological as well as practical. By contrasting legal and political theory with its realpolitikal context I show that diplomatic and economic concerns often eclipsed theory when judging pirates in legal praxis. -
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The text of the Rome Statute reproduced herein was originally circulated as document A/CONF.183/9 of 17 July 1998 and corrected by procès-verbaux of 10 November 1998, 12 July 1999, 30 November 1999, 8 May 2000, 17 January 2001 and 16 January 2002. The amendments to article 8 reproduce the text contained in depositary notification C.N.651.2010 Treaties-6, while the amendments regarding articles 8 bis, 15 bis and 15 ter replicate the text contained in depositary notification C.N.651.2010 Treaties-8; both depositary communications are dated 29 November 2010. The table of contents is not part of the text of the Rome Statute adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court on 17 July 1998. It has been included in this publication for ease of reference. Done at Rome on 17 July 1998, in force on 1 July 2002, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, No. 38544, Depositary: Secretary-General of the United Nations, http://treaties.un.org. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Published by the International Criminal Court ISBN No. 92-9227-232-2 ICC-PIOS-LT-03-002/15_Eng Copyright © International Criminal Court 2011 All rights reserved International Criminal Court | Po Box 19519 | 2500 CM | The Hague | The Netherlands | www.icc-cpi.int Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Table of Contents PREAMBLE 1 PART 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COURT 2 Article 1 The Court 2 Article 2 Relationship of the Court with the United Nations 2 Article 3 Seat of the Court 2 Article 4 Legal status and powers of the Court 2 PART 2. -
Universal Jurisdiction
MFK-Mendip Job ID: 10390BK-0187-8 7 - 735 Rev: 05-08-2004 PAGE: 1 TIME: 07:22 SIZE: 61,08 Area: JNLS OP: MF Universal Jurisdiction Clarifying the Basic Concept Roger O’Keefe* Abstract Academic analysis of the Arrest Warrant case in the International Court of Justice has tended to focus to date on the Court’s judgment on immunity. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the question of universal jurisdiction, as discussed in detail in most of the separate and dissenting opinions and declarations. The following article focuses less on the various judges’ conclusions as to the international lawfulness of universal jurisdiction than on their treatment of the basic concept. The article argues that this treatment is open to question, reflecting, as it does, both a conceptual conflation of states’ jurisdiction to prescribe their criminal law with the manner of that law’s enforcement and an inattention to crucial temporal considerations. As well as fostering dubious terminology, these factors lead some judges to an unsatisfying conclusion regarding the permissibility of the enforcement in absentia of universal jurisdiction, and cause others to underestimate the degree of state practice in favour of universal jurisdiction over crimes under general inter- national law. 1. Introduction The separate and dissenting opinions and declarations of the judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Arrest Warrant1 invite discussion of what is meant by ‘universal jurisdiction’. This article suggests that the respective judges’ understanding of the concept is debatable, since underlying it is a tendency, when dealing with states’ criminal jurisdiction, to elide prescription and enforcement, as * University Lecturer and Deputy Director, Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge; Fellow, Magdalene College, Cambridge. -
Nulla Poena Sine Lege
THE YALE LAW JOURNAL VOLuME 47 DECEMBER, 1937 NUzaER 2 NULLA POENA SINE LEGE By JEROME HALL f NULLA poena sine lege has several meanings.' In a narrower con- notation of that specific formula it concerns the treatment-consequence element of penal laws: no person shall be punished except in pur- suance of a statute which fixes a penalty for criminal behavior. Em- ployed as nullum crimen sine lege, the prohibition is that no conduct shall be held criminal unless it is specifically described in the behavior- circumstance element of a penal statute. In addition, tudla poena sine lege has been understood to include the rule that penal statutes must be strictly construed. A final, important signification of the rule is that penal laws shall not be given retroactive effect. Obviously, it is necessary to keep each of the above meanings distinct. I. OIuGIs The view one finds most frequently expressed is that the rule, despite its Latinity, is not of Roman origin 2 but was born in eighteenth century Liberalism. The matter is not so simple. A few threads persist to per- plex; they refute an all-too-facile history, even though they may not establish a clear, unbroken line of development.' True it is that the "extraordinary" offenses of Roman jurisprudence suggest almost unlimited discretion in the judiciary. But side by side with eztraordinariajudicia may be found insistence upon pre-definition of offense and penalty. As regards first malefactors, magisterial discre- tion probably joined appeal to the populace to provide specific decisions, which, in course of time, defined "ordinary" offenses governed by pre- -Professor of Law, Louisiana State University Law School The author vishes 'to acknowledge his indebtedness to Virginia L. -
Evidentiary Challenges in Universal Jurisdiction Cases
Evidentiary challenges in universal jurisdiction cases Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2019 #UJAR 1 Photo credit: UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata This publication benefted from the generous support of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Oak Foundation and the City of Geneva. TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 METHODOLOGY AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7 FOREWORD 8 BUILDING ON SHIFTING SANDS: EVIDENTIARY CHALLENGES IN UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION CASES 11 KEY FINDINGS 12 CASES OF 2018 Argentina 13 VICTIMS DEMAND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FRANCO DICTATORSHIP 15 ARGENTINIAN PROSECUTORS CONSIDER CHARGES AGAINST CROWN PRINCE Austria 16 SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS JUDGMENT FOR WAR CRIMES IN SYRIA 17 INVESTIGATION OPENS AGAINST OFFICIALS FROM THE AL-ASSAD REGIME Belgium 18 FIVE RWANDANS TO STAND TRIAL FOR GENOCIDE 19 AUTHORITIES ISSUE THEIR FIRST INDICTMENT ON THE 1989 LIBERIAN WAR Finland 20 WAR CRIMES TRIAL RAISES TECHNICAL CHALLENGES 22 FORMER IRAQI SOLDIER SENTENCED FOR WAR CRIMES France ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS ON SYRIA 23 THREE INTERNATIONAL ARREST WARRANTS TARGET HIGH-RANKING AL-ASSAD REGIME OFFICIALS 24 SYRIAN ARMY BOMBARDMENT TARGETING JOURNALISTS IN HOMS 25 STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION BASED ON INSIDER PHOTOS 26 FIRST IN FRANCE: COMPANY INDICTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY 28 FRANCE REVOKES REFUGEE STATUS OF MASS MASSACRE SUSPECT 29 SAUDI CROWN PRINCE UNDER INVESTIGATION 30 INVESTIGATION OPENS ON BENGAZHY SIEGE 3 31 A EUROPEAN COLLABORATION: SWISS NGO SEEKS A WARLORD’S PROSECUTION IN FRANCE 32 IS SELLING SPYING DEVICE TO AL-ASSAD’S REGIME COMPLICITY IN TORTURE? RWANDAN TRIALS IN -
Sea Piracy Law a Comparative Study Between India and United Kingdom
International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1 ISSN 2289-1552 2012 SEA PIRACY LAW A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN INDIA AND UNITED KINGDOM Abishek Murthy School of Law Christ University, Bangalore, India. 1. INTERNATIONAL SEA PIRACY 1.1 Piracy “An act of boarding or attempting to board any ship with the intent to commit theft or any other crime and with the intent or capability to use force in the furtherance of that act”1. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons travelling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel). The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. Piracy is the name of a specific crime under customary international law and also the name of a number of crimes under the municipal law of a number of States. It is distinguished from privateering, which is authorized by national authorities and therefore a legitimate form of war-like activity by non-state actors. Privateering is considered commerce raiding, and was outlawed by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) for signatories to those treaties. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates. Historically, offenders have usually been apprehended by military personnel and tried by military tribunals. In the 21st century, the international community is facing many problems in bringing pirates to justice.2 1.2 Location & Extent of Piracy Piracy is considered a serious problem by governments and the shipping industry alike.