Prosecution of War Crimes

Catalog description

This course will focus on the newly formed International Criminal Court (ICC). We will first introduce students to the field of International Criminal Law, specifically the nature and elements of international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide which are under the jurisdiction of the ICC. We will also cover the various modes of punishment for these crimes, including prosecution at war crimes tribunals (e.g., Nuremburg and Tokyo, the Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia) and prosecution by individual States of their own citizens or of other nationals under the theory of universal jurisdiction over violations of jus cogens norms. The major portion of the course will focus on the system adopted by the Rome Statute for prosecution of crimes within a permanent international criminal tribunal. This will include involving the students in a simulation exercise of the four-party system to be employed by the ICC. Students will have the opportunity to act in the roles of prosecutor, defense counsel, victim's advocate, and judge.