Forensic Archaeology & the International Criminal Court
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This article contains much of what we discussed in our Libertas Lecture on 20 May 2021.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) simultaneously possesses jurisdiction over a “situation” and individual “cases”. In the context of a situation there may be both victim participation and/or evidentiary issues that may affect the cases against individual accused yet to be identified by the court. This can involve the appointment of so-called “ad hoc defence counsel” to represent the interests of these future accused. Preserving evidence of international crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity, occurs in the pre-trial phase of the case before charges are pleaded or even confirmed.
This article goes further into forensic archaeology and its contextual use within both criminal and civil cases and takes a particular focus on counsel’s duties in the pre trial stage at the International Criminal Court
