Audiovisual link technologies in Australian criminal courts: practical and legal considerations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Smith ◽  
Rebecca Savage
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Natural Justice ◽  
Administrative Costs ◽  
Considerable Impact ◽  
Oral Evidence ◽  
Geographical Locations

Audiovisual link (AVL) technologies have had considerable impact on criminal court processes in Australia and overseas, particularly following the need for social distancing created by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. AVL technologies have enabled courts to take oral evidence from witnesses and litigants in different geographical locations, reducing the need to travel long distances and minimising the time, administrative costs and health risks associated with attending court in person. In 2016 the AIC commenced a project to document the extent to which AVL technologies are used in criminal courts in Australia, as well as the types and prevalence of AVL technologies used and the technological, administrative and procedural issues associated with their use in terms of fairness, openness, legality and natural justice. This report assesses the practical and legal considerations that need to be taken into account when adopting AVL technologies in the criminal courts and concludes by identifying best practice initiatives for the adoption of AVL technologies in Australia. An accompanying report presents findings regarding the implementation of systems in Australia (Smith, Savage & Emami 2021).

International legal immunities and privileges of the Рrosecutor amicus curiae

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
EKATERINA A. KOPYLOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Amicus Curiae ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Foreign Science

The article considers the international legal regime of immunities and privileges of amicus curiae prosecutors of international criminal courts which are intended to ensure independent and unhindered performance of their functions in prosecuting crimes against the administration of justice. Due to the lack of doctrinal research in this field, whether in the domestic or foreign science of international law, the study is characterized by scientific novelty. Its empirical basis is constituted of the provisions of international treaties governing the immunities and privileges of staff of the ad hoc international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court. It is noted that today the state of international legal regulation of immunities and privileges of amicus curiae prosecutors is not quite satisfactory as it contains significant gaps. Two possible approaches to determining the scope of the immunities and privileges of amicus curiae prosecutors are identified: the first based on their status and the second – on the functions they perform. Their critical analysis leads to the conclusion that the functional approach is more in line with the principle of equality of arms in international criminal proceedings. As a result of its application, the scope of the immunities and privileges of amicus curiae prosecutors coincides with the scope of the immunities and privileges granted to staff of the Offices of Prosecutors at the international criminal tribunals.

Judicial Lawmaking, Discourse Theory, and the ICTY on Belligerent Reprisals

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1261-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Kuhli ◽  
Klaus Günther
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
Judicial Lawmaking ◽  
The Individual

Without presenting a full definition, it can be said that the notion of judicial lawmaking implies the idea that courts create normative expectations beyond the individual case. That is, our question is whether courts' normative declarations have an effect which is abstract and general. Our purpose here is to ask about judicial lawmaking in this sense with respect to international criminal courts and tribunals. In particular, we will focus on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). No other international criminal court or tribunal has issued so many judgments as the ICTY, so it seems a particularly useful focus for examining the creation of normative expectations.

Using social distancing technology in hotels: a social exchange perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Morosan ◽  
Agnes DeFranco
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Social Rewards

Purpose As social distancing procedures can be facilitated by various hotel technologies, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which consumers develop perceptions of value regarding the use of certain hotel technologies for social distancing in hotels. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the social exchange theory, this study conceptualized the benefits of using technologies for social distancing, health risks, social rewards and privacy concerns as antecedents of value of using technologies for social distancing in hotels. The structural model was validated by using data from more than 1,000 nationwide US consumers. Findings Benefits and consumers’ privacy concerns of using technologies for social distancing in hotels were the strongest predictors of value. Social rewards also had a significant but relatively lower effect on value. Health risks was found to have no influence on value. Originality/value The study is the first to examine the role of technologies in mitigating the effects of coronavirus. Thus, it extends the information technology and hospitality literature by examining the role of these technologies in safeguarding individual and public health.

Transnational Criminal Courts

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Sara Wharton ◽  
Robert J Currie
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Current System ◽  
Transnational Crime ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Criminal Jurisdiction ◽  
The 19Th Century

Sara Wharton and Robert J Currie examine the various failed or not fully realized attempts to establish an alternative to national criminal jurisdiction over transnational crimes, in the shape of various different models of transnational criminal court. They range from the mixed commissions against slavery in the 19th century to the criminal chamber of the African Court sketched out in the Malabo Protocol. A variety of reasons appear to drive these initiatives but they have one thing in common—an incapacity within the current system to deal with certain kinds of transnational crime at all or in a politically acceptable manner.

Defence Counsel Ethics, the icc Code of Conduct and Establishing a Bar Association for icc List Counsel

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1048-1116
Author(s):  
Michael G. Karnavas
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Professional Association ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Defence Counsel ◽  
Bar Association

Defence counsel are ethically bound to zealously represent their clients. So what exactly does it mean to ‘zealously represent’ a client before any of the international criminal courts or tribunals? How unproblematic is it for defence counsel to meet their ethical duties? Would an International Criminal Court (icc) Bar or professional association for icc List Counsel and their assistants be of any significance to that end? This contribution concludes that the only way forward out of the prevailing and persistent morass List Counsel currently find themselves in at the icc, is through the establishment of a Bar Association for List Counsel and their assistants.

scholarly journals Practice theory and change in international law: theorizing the development of legal meaning through the interpretive practices of international criminal courts

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Stappert
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Interpretive Practices ◽  
Legal Meaning

AbstractThe question of change has emerged as one of the main conceptual and empirical challenges for International Relations' practice turn. In the context of international law, such a challenge is brought into particularly stark relief due to the significant development of legal meaning through more informal, interpretive avenues, including through the judgments of international courts. This paper develops a framework for theorizing how interpretive legal practices generate normative content change in international law. Specifically, it uses the example of the development of international criminal law through the decisions of international criminal courts to analyze how legal interpretation can lead to normative change in practice. Drawing on interviews conducted with judges and legal officers at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), I analyze how a community of legal practice centered around these courts was able to construct and alter legal meaning in international criminal law, and how such a potential for change was curbed by understandings of the interpretive process and the role of international courts dominant among international lawyers.

scholarly journals Thousands on the stand: Exploring trends and patterns of international witnesses

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-836
Author(s):  
Gabriele Chlevickaite ◽  
Barbora Hola ◽  
Catrien Bijleveld
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Judicial Efficiency ◽  
Situational Contexts

AbstractThe international criminal courts and tribunals have heard thousands of witnesses in cases of extreme complexity and breadth. Their evidentiary record is overwhelming, with live witness testimony standing out as one of its defining features. Keeping in mind the arguments and policies of judicial efficiency and fairness, this article empirically examines the trends and patterns in viva voce witness numbers at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Criminal Court (ICC). We observe clear differences between institutions and individual cases, and discuss the underlying reasons for such divergences. As well as providing a general overview, we demonstrate the complex interaction between case-related characteristics, institutional and situational contexts, and the number of witnesses called at trial.

The Role Played by External Case Law in Promoting the Legitimacy of International Criminal Court Decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-211
Author(s):  
Joanna Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Procedural Law ◽  
The Law

International criminal courts and tribunals (ICTs) often refer to jurisprudence from other ICTs when reaching a decision. This can help increase the legitimacy of their decision-making. This article focuses on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and examines when the ICC may refer to the decisions from other courts; when it in fact does so; when it has chosen to deviate from the decisions of other ICTs; and how this has affected the legitimacy of its decisions. The ICC has generally been mindful in its approach towards referring to jurisprudence from other ICTs, but has not been afraid to deviate from it on occasion in decisions concerning both substantive and procedural law. The article argues that where possible the Court should interpret the law in line with other ICTs’ decisions. This will help increase the legitimacy both of the Court’s own decisions and the field of ICL as a whole.

The Role of the Amicus curiae before International Criminal Tribunals

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Woolaver ◽  
Sarah Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Amicus Curiae ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Rules Of Procedure

AbstractThe amicus curiae brief has increasingly been used before international criminal tribunals. The practice of accepting or inviting amicus curiae briefs or submissions has been included in the rules of procedure and evidence of the ICTY, the ICTR, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court. This article examines the role of amicus curiae before international criminal courts, including: how and when amicus are granted permission to appear; how amicus curiae are used by these international courts; the influence, if any, of amicus briefs on decisions and judgments; and whether the role of amicus curiae in international criminal courts has diverged from the traditional concept of an amicus curiae. Also considered are the arguments in support of the continued role of amicus curiae before international criminal tribunals.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMES WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Magda Olesiuk-Okomska
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Far East ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Court System ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Military Tribunal ◽  
Massive Scale

Although in international law responsibility traditionally had belonged to states, along with involvement of individuals in conflicts between states and committing by them crimes on a massive scale, a need to criminalize such acts and to bring offenders guilty of the most serious violations of international law to justice - arose. Establishment of international criminal courts resulted from the need to fulfill internationally the idea of justice. Development of international criminal courts reflects differences in inter alia attitude towards ratione materiae of particular courts and tribunals. The purpose of this article is to present and discuss international crimes within the jurisdiction of international criminal courts and tribunals. A typology of international criminal courts was indicated and the most important courts and tribunals were presented in detail. The paper discusses subject jurisdiction of International Military Court in Nuremberg and International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokio, the first international courts established to bring war criminals to justice; as well as the subject jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the only permanent court in international criminal court system, having universal jurisdiction. Four categories of the most serious crimes of international concern were considered, and doubts concerning subject jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, as well as its functioning in general, were signalized.

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