Pluralism in International Criminal Law

Edited by Elies van Sliedregt and Sergey Vasiliev

Innovative study of the impact of divergent judgments in international criminal law, assessing whether they undermine the legitimacy, coherence, and efficiency of international criminal justice
Identifies areas of law in need of harmonization and makes suggestions as to whether and how this can be achieved
Ultimately argues that pluralism can be a beneficial feature of international criminal justice, allowing for different cultural and legal values

Pluralism in International Criminal Law

Edited by Elies van Sliedregt and Sergey Vasiliev

Description

Despite the growth in international criminal courts and tribunals, the majority of cases concerning international criminal law are prosecuted at the domestic level. This means that both international and domestic courts have to contend with a plethora of relevant, but often contradictory, judgments by international institutions and by other domestic courts. This book provides a detailed investigation into the impact this pluralism has had on international criminal law and procedure, and examines the key problems which arise from it. The work identifies the various interpretations of the concept of pluralism and discusses how it manifests in a broad range of aspects of international criminal law and practice. These include substantive jurisdiction, the definition of crimes, modes of individual criminal responsibility for international crimes, sentencing, fair trial rights, law of evidence, truth-finding, and challenges faced by both international and domestic courts in gathering, testing and evaluating evidence.

Authored by leading practitioners and academics in the field, the book employs pluralism as a methodological tool to advance the debate beyond the classic view of 'legal pluralism' leading to a problematic fragmentation of the international legal order. It argues instead that pluralism is a fundamental and indispensable feature of international criminal law which permeates it on several levels: through multiple legal regimes and enforcement fora, diversified sources and interpretations of concepts, and numerous identities underpinning the law and practice. The book addresses the virtues and dangers of pluralism, reflecting on the need for, and prospects of, harmonization of international criminal law around a common grammar. It ultimately brings together the theories of legal pluralism, the comparative law discourse on legal transplants, harmonization, and convergence, and the international legal debate on fragmentation to show where pluralism and divergence will need to be accepted as regular, and even beneficial, features of international criminal justice.

Pluralism in International Criminal Law

Edited by Elies van Sliedregt and Sergey Vasiliev

PART I. PLURALISM: CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Introduction, E. van Sliedregt and S. Vasiliev
2. Legal Pluralism: A Philosophical Perspective, J. Stewart and A. Kiyani
3. Legal Transplants or Legal Patchworking? The Creation of International Criminal Law as a Pluralistic Body of Law, Cassandra Steer
4. The Plural Pluralisms of International Criminal Procedure: In Search of a Normative Identity, S. Vasiliev
PART II. HORIZONTAL PLURALISM
5. Organizational Criminality, J.D. Ohlin
6. Modes of Liability: Pluralism in Theory, Uniformity in Legal Practice?, M. Cupido
7. Evidentiary Practices in the International Criminal Tribunals: A Comparative Approach, J.D. Jackson
8. Pluralism in Sentencing? Consistency of International Sentencing and International Sentencing Guidelines, B. Hola
9. Beyond International Criminal Law: The Curious Criminality of Mass Atrocity, M. Drumbl
PART III. VERTICAL PLURALISM
10. Interpretation and Application of International Criminal Law in Dutch Courts, R. Kok
11. Rights-Pluralism and Fair Trial in International Criminal Proceedings, A. Zahar
12. Proving International Crimes: Sui Generis Evidence Law?, E. Fry
13. Evidentiary Challenges: Domestic and International Prosecutions Compared, W. Jordash
PART IV. FROM PLURALISM TO HARMONIZATION? LOOK TO THE FUTURE
14. Individual Criminal Responsibility in Article 25 ICC Statute, G. Werle and B. Burghardt
15. Collective Intentions and Individual Criminal Responsibility, J. Gadirov
16. Evidence in International Criminal Tribunals: The Need for a Harmonized Approach, P. Murphy and L. Baddour
17. Conclusion, E. van Sliedregt and S. Vasiliev

Pluralism in International Criminal Law

Edited by Elies van Sliedregt and Sergey Vasiliev

Author Information

Elies van Sliedregt, Professor of Criminal Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,Sergey Vasiliev, Postdoctoral Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Elies van Sliedregt is Professor of Criminal Law, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Director of the Center for International Criminal Justice at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She previously worked as associate professor at Leiden University and as a lecturer at Utrecht University and held visiting fellowships in Cambridge, Oxford, Bologna, and at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Van Sliedregt was visiting professional with Chambers at the International Criminal Court (2010) and fellow-in-residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (2011). She is a regular speaker at international conferences and has published extensively in the field of international and European criminal law.

Sergey Vasiliev is Postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; formerly research fellow at the Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam; member of International Expert Framework on International Criminal Procedure. He is the author and editor of several publications in international and comparative criminal law.

Contributors:

Lina Baddour - Trial Attorney, USA
Yassin Brunger - University of Leicester
Boris Burghardt - Humboldt University Berlin
Matthew R. Crowe - University of Toronto
Marjolein Cupido - Free University Amsterdam
Mark A. Drumbl - Washington & Lee University
Elinor Fry - Free University Amsterdam
Javid Gadirov - Central European University, Budapest
Barbora Holá - Free University Amsterdam
John D. Jackson - Nottingham University
Wayne Jordash QC - Doughty Street Chambers
Ruth A. Kok - Supreme Court of the Netherlands
H.H. Judge Peter Murphy - Circuit Judge, England
Jens David Ohlin - Cornell University
Cassandra Steer - University of Amsterdam
James G. Stewart - UCB Vancouver
Elies van Sliedregt - Free University Amsterdam
Sergey Vasiliev - Free University Amsterdam
Gerhard Werle - Humboldt University Berlin
Alexander Zahar - Macquarie Law School, Sydney