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The literature on the capabilities of weak states to withstand pressure from strong states suggests that more often than not, weaker states tend to give into the stronger power. What are the motivating factors that enable weak states to withstand pressure from strong states? To ensure that the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not gain jurisdiction over its nationals, the United States is currently seeking to sign Bilateral Immunity Agreements (BIAs) with all countries under the rubric of the American Servicemembers' Protection Act. This thesis examines through a comparative case study analysis how a number of African Countries are able to withstand the pressure to sign a BIA by taking advantage of internal and external institutional structures and mechanisms. It also fills a gap in the literature by examining one regions response to the BIAs relative to the U.S. position concerning the ICC.

<p>On 17 July 1998, a total of 120 States, including Malawi, voted for the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ermanent ICC became operational on 1 July 2002. The ICC has jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. These crimes are the most serious crimes of international concern. The&nbsp / ICC operates under the principle of complementarity, which entails that the ICC will only assume jurisdiction over these core crimes in the event that a State Party is unwilling and unable genuinely to carry out the investigation and prosecution. States Parties have, therefore, the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The States&nbsp / Parties must therefore establish jurisdiction to conduct investigations and prosecution of these core crimes. It is from that background, coupled with the historical evolution and development of international criminal law, with regard to individual criminal responsibility, that this paper argues for the implementation of the Rome Statute in Malawi, through&nbsp / domestic legislation.The paper thus argues that only through domestic legislation can the purports of the Rome Statute be achieved and fulfilled by Malawi.</p>

<p>Sexual violence leaves the victims psychologically traumatised and stigmatised in the eyes of its community. Used on a large scale, sexual violence can destabilise a society as a whole and when used during armed conflicts, it serves as a powerful weapon against members of a community. During armed conflicts, sexual violence is widespread and systematically used as a tool of war and this makes sexual violence amount to crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. This research paper critically analyses and evaluates sexual violence as an international crime, as well as its prosecution under international criminal law mainly by the International Criminal Court (hereafter ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (hereafter ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (hereafter ICTR). It discusses the problem of selectivity that can be observed in prosecuting sexual violence that has in fact, left many victims of sexual violence dissatisfied. By doing so, it analyses the law as it is to determine whether the law applied during sexual violence prosecutions is sufficient. The paper also states recommendations that can contribute to the effective prosecution of sexual crimes under international criminal law.</p>

No description available.

This is a study of hudud - Islamic 'fixed penalties' - as they appear in Iranian law and courts. It first presents the codified laws and underlying elements from Twelver Shi‘i law (as interpreted by the Iranian legal community) governing the penalties of stoning for adultery, amputation of four fingers for theft, and execution for sodomy and certain variants of fornication (illicit carnal congress between unmarried males and females). It subsequently observes how these laws and concepts are used in practice by analysing previously unavailable court documents pertaining to theft, sodomy, fornication and adultery trials. It thereby seeks to discover opportunities for avoiding these hadd (singular of hudud) penalties, which are termed ‘irreversible’ because they change the condemned irrevocably by killing or maiming them. The material collected suggests several patterns characterising the application of hudud in Iran. The law itself provides so many opportunities for lenience that in most cases, irreversible penalties could theoretically be avoided. However, the law is often so vague that judges have enormous discretion about how to interpret and apply it. This is exacerbated by the fact that the codified law is underlain by Shi‘i texts which jurists, judges and lawyers acknowledge as the true and authoritative source of law. The law’s vagueness necessitates recourse to these texts, but different texts and interpretations thereof can be used in court, leading to unpredictable sentencing. Furthermore, in the cases analysed it was commonplace for laws to be contravened outright. Socioeconomic forces also affected, or were revealed by, some of the cases. As well as many opportunities for lenience, the law contains fundamental obstacles to it, many of which are difficult to abrogate in an ‘Islamic Republic’ because they originate from authoritative Shi‘i texts. Some jurists suggest ways to overcome even these, one being Khomeini’s doctrine whereby state interests can override Islamic orthodoxy to protect the Muslim community and hence Islam itself. The project serves as a ‘handbook’ of codified Iranian hadd law in light of its underlying Shi‘i concepts as understood by Iranian legal specialists. Through a systematic analysis of hadd cases, it shows how these ideas are applied in practice, and could also have practical applicability in the field of human rights.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil

Univ., Diss.--Regensburg, 2004. / Literaturverz. S. [339] - 370.

Magister Legum - LLM / On 17 July 1998, a total of 120 States, including Malawi, voted for the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ermanent ICC became operational on 1 July 2002. The ICC has jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. These crimes are the most serious crimes of international concern. The ICC operates under the principle of complementarity, which entails that the ICC will only assume jurisdiction over these core crimes in the event that a State Party is unwilling and unable genuinely to carry out the investigation and prosecution. States Parties have, therefore, the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The States Parties must therefore establish jurisdiction to conduct investigations and prosecution of these core crimes. It is from that background, coupled with the historical evolution and development of international criminal law, with regard to individual criminal responsibility, that this paper argues for the implementation of the Rome Statute in Malawi, through domestic legislation.The paper thus argues that only through domestic legislation can the purports of the Rome Statute be achieved and fulfilled by Malawi. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / South Africa