Human rights in international criminal proceedings

Abstract

This thesis deals with the protection of human rights in international criminal proceedings. The basic assumption of the study is that hum an rig h ts form the y a rd stick against which to measure the conformity of in te rn a tio n a l crim inai p roceed in gs with the rule of law,; The main purpose of this dissertation is to make an assessment of the implementation of human rights safeguards in international criminal trials. The study takes a procedural approach to human rights guarantees in international criminal proceedings and covers the systems of both the a d hoc T ribu n als an d the International Criminal Court (the ICC). It analyzes the rights conferred on individuals involved in international criminal trials from the commencement of investigations to the sentencing stage, as well as the procedural rights of victims and witnesses. The analysis has been carried out taking into account the influence of differing models of criminal procedure (adversarial and inquisitorial) in shaping the rules of international criminal procedure, while regularly referring to the jurisprudence of the ad hoc Tribunals. The introductory chapter sketches the structure of the study and outlines the main problems with which it deals. Starting with the relatively minor importance of human rights safeguards at the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, the focus shifts to the elaboration of human rights standards in international law. This is the turning point of the second half of the XXth century. The influence of these standards on national laws of criminal procedure and the problem of the extension of such standards to international criminal trials are also dealt with.