Principles of Evidence in International Criminal Justice

Principles of Evidence in International Criminal Justice provides an overview of the procedure and practice concerning the admission and evaluation of evidence before the international criminal tribunals. The book is both descriptive and critical and its emphasis is on day-to-day practice, drawing on the experience of the Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone Tribunals. This book is an attempt to define and explain the core principles and rules that have developed at those ad hoc Tribunals; the rationale and origin of those rules; and to assess the suitability of those rules in the particular context of the International Criminal Court which is still at its early stages. The ICC differs in structure from the ad hoc Tribunals and approaches the legal issues it has to resolve differently from its predecessors. The ICC is however confronted with many of the same questions. The book examines the differences between the ad hoc Tribunals and the ICC and seeks to offer insights as to how and in which circumstances the principles established over years of practice at the ICTY, ICTR and SCSL may serve as guidance to the ICC practitioners of today and the future.

The contributors represent a cross-section of the practicing international criminal bar, drawn from the ranks of the Bench, the Prosecution and the Defence and bringing with them different legal domestic cultures. Their mixed background underlines the recurring theme in this book which is the manner in which a legal culture has gradually taken shape in the international Tribunals, drawing on the various traditions and experiences of its participants.

Karim Khan is a barrister practising at 2 Hare Court, (Chambers of David Waters QC), Temple, London, a leading set specialising in national and international criminal law and human rights. He has previously worked as a Senior Crown Prosecutor and at the Law Commission of England and Wales. From 1997-2000 he worked in the Office of the Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Since 2000 he has acted in numerous international cases including as lead defence counsel for Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, before the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor, and in various cases before the ICTY. He is Lead Counsel to the Darfurian rebel Leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, the first person to voluntarily surrender to the ICC.

Caroline Buisman has specialised in international criminal law and procedure since 1999. She completed an internship at the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY and has subsequently taught courses and seminars dealing with issues arising from international criminal justice, inter alia at Westminster University, London. Since 2002, she has worked in a variety of defence teams in different cases before the ICTR, ICTY, SCSL and currently the ICC. In the course of her work at the international criminal tribunals, Ms Buisman has published a number of articles and chapters in books on the subject of international criminal procedure and evidence and is currently in the completion stage of her PhD on fact-finding methodologies in international criminal justice.

Christopher Gosnell is a New York attorney whose principal specialization is international criminal law. He has worked as both a defence counsel and as a prosecutor at the ICTY, and served for several years as a Legal Officer in the Chambers of the ICTR. A former lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School and law clerk of the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Gosnell received law degrees from Oxford, McGill, and Columbia.

Preface, Karim A. A. Khan, Caroline Buisman, and Christopher Gosnell
Forward, Judge Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko, President of the Appeals Division, International Criminal Court
Introduction, Caroline Buisman, Chris Gosnell, and Karim A. A. Khan
PART I: Antecedents
1. Civil law Rules of Evidence, Caroline Buisman, Myriam Bouazdi and Matteo Costi
2. International Criminal Law and Common Law Rules of Evidence, Peter Murphy and Lina Baddour
3. The Nature and Evolution of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Vladimir Tochilovsky
4. Interpretive Methodologies and the Use of Precedent in Cases Before International Criminal Courts, Christopher Staker
5. The Changing Context of Evidential Rules, Christopher Gosnell
PART II: Before the Trial Begins
6. Collection of Evidence, Amal Alamuddin
7. Disclosure of Evidence, Cainnech Lussiaa-Berdou and Kate Gibson
PART III: The Trial
8. Admissibility of Evidence, Christopher Gosnell
9. Documentary Evidence, Wibke Timmermann and Marc Nerenberg
10. Rules Governing the Presentation of Testimonial Evidence, Colleen Rohan
11. Evidential Privileges, Karim A. A. Khan and Gissou Azarnia
12. Expert Evidence, Avi Singh
13. Reasonable Doubt Standard of Proof in International Criminal Trials, Colleen Rohan
14. The Standard of Proof in Pre-Trial Proceedings, Andrew J. Burrow
PART IV: Proof of Facts Other than Through Evidence at Trial
15. Judicial Notice, Nina Jorgenson
16. Additional Evidence on Appeal, Review Proceedings and the Remedy of Reconsideration, Inneke Onsea and Linda Bianchi