Electing Judges and Prosecutors of the International Criminal Court: A Reappraisal of the Practice through the Lenses of Transparency and Legitimacy

This article – seizing the occasion of the election of six new judges and of the third Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Assembly of States Parties’ (ASP) 19th session of late 2020 and early 2021 – aims at reassessing the practice of States and of the ASP in the nomination and election of judges and prosecutors, reflecting on its impact on the (perception of) legitimacy of the Court. The article will analyze the trends and changes in this practice over the years in relation to the challenges faced by the Court, including the practical ones posed by the COVID-19 pandemic that have impacted on the last election. Moreover, it shall assess the effectiveness of reforms aimed at establishing a more transparent nomination and election process, which have only partially contributed to strengthening the perception of legitimacy of the institution and have left some States unsatisfied with the screening of candidates carried out by the advisory bodies established by the ASP and the Bureau. The article concludes with a few proposals to enhance the nomination and election process, mainly through non-invasive measures, in the belief that far-reaching reforms of the Statute are unlikely to be adopted in the near future, and that States’ interests and political considerations cannot (and probably should not) be entirely eschewed from the process.

A Typology of Advisory Bodies in Legislatures and Research Perspectives

IntroductionRigorous scientific advice processes are becoming increasingly important and often used to develop evidence-informed policymaking. Most of the work has focused on investigating advisory processes for the Executive rather than for the Legislative branch. In this contribution, we developed a typology and evaluated current and emerging trends in legislative scientific advice processes. AimsThe aims of this work are to i) Develop a typology to inform academics about key characteristics and insights that can lead to new valuable research questions about legislative science advice, ii) Provide policymakers with information about scientific advice processes in legislatures worldwide so that they can use it for developing new or expand legislative advisory processes, iii) Evaluate emerging trends in scientific advice processes in legislatures for future research or practitioners' work.MethodsWe systematically analyzed literature for publications between 2014 and 2020 using Google Scholar, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and JSTOR. We used pre-defined terminology related to scientific advice in legislatures to search for peer-reviewed articles and complemented the information of the advisory scientific advisory bodies found using cross-references and grey literature. The unit of analysis for creating the typology and subsequent analysis was the legislative scientific advice body itself.ConclusionWe developed a typology that includes 12 categories defined to provide insights about the contextual background, mandate, structure, and process of advice of legislative advisory bodies. The analysis indicates that advisory bodies in different countries have a wide degree of politicization, with many advisory bodies being considerably politicized. Moreover, most of the work focused on advisory units is in western and high-income countries. There are open opportunities for research, such as doing further comparative analyzes and investigating staff roles in advisory bodies. Lastly, we found that foresight and horizon scanning methodologies were increasingly implemented in legislatures for participatory future-forward thinking advice and to set long-term priorities in agendas.

2. The Union Institutions

This chapter considers the main institutions of the European Union and their principal features, such as appointment, tasks, duties, and developments. These institutions include the Commission; the Council (of Ministers) of the European Union; the European Council; the European Parliament; the Court of Justice of the European Union; the Union’s advisory bodies; and other Union bodies. The chapter also considers Union financing. The chapter explains the changes to the original institution set-up, established over 60 years ago, which has been expanded and complicated quite considerably since, and also introduces the interrelationships of the institutions, in particular between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

Developing a Diamond Framework Model Based on “Integration” of Project Success Measures for Construction Project Management in Yemen

The most prominent obstacle facing the construction industry in Yemen is mismanagement. Developing appropriate tools, approaches, and standards for managing construction projects will contribute effectively to the development and prosperity of the Yemeni construction industry. This study aims to provide the tools, approaches and standards for project management based on the opinions of the Yemeni advisory bodies. It presents an Integrated Cost, Quality, Time, and Scope (ICQTS) diamond framework model by developing the traditional triangle model in project management providing a practical contribution to researchers and companies working in the construction industry. The study uses a descriptive and analytical approach through a comprehensive literature review followed by a field study using a designed questionnaire distributed to the relevant Yemeni advisory bodies. The study concluded with the development of the traditional triangle model resulting in the introduction of the diamond framework model in the management of construction projects. Integration management was found to have a strong impact on project success presenting the framework model as an easy and flexible tool that unifies and integrates the processes and roles in the project and directing it towards achieving project stakeholder objectives. The literature largely neglects the impact of integration management in the various models and is mostly overlooked. Inclusion of integration management in the presented model will highlight measures of project success stressing the need to integrate and manage them together. Future studies may research the differences in the opinions of construction companies.

The struggle for abolition of use of customary law in volost courts of Russian Empire at turn of the XIX–XX centuries

This article is devoted to the issues of socio-political discussions on the abolition of the application of customary law in the activities of the volost courts of the Russian Empire at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. In the light of the activities of Advisory bodies that considered and developed draft reforms of legislation on farmers. For the first time, the author shows the features of approaches to the studied problem, identified in the materials of the periodical press and provincial committees of the Special Comission on the needs of the agricultural industry. The result of the research is the identification of three key approaches to the problem of customary law in volost justice, which are formed in the socio-political thought of the period under review