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This thesis aims on the issue of duress as ground for excluding criminal responsibility in international criminal law. Duress arises from a situation when a perpetrator is forced under a threat of immediate death or bodily harm to commit a crime under international law. This thesis shortly explores duress in national legal systems, especially the differences between the duress in common law and in civil law jurisdiction. It further considers the use of duress as an argument of defence in history of international criminal law and focuses on two key judicial decisions in this area - the Einsatzgruppen case decided by the American military tribunal after the Second World War and Erdemović case decided by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. This thesis discusses with complexity the individual characteristics and conditions of duress. These characteristics and conditions are as follows: i) conduct alleged to constitute a crime under international law, ii) threat of imminent death or of serious bodily harm, iii) necessary acts to avoid threat (subsidiarity) iv) reasonable acts to avoid threat (proportionality), v) the situation leading to duress must not have been voluntarily brought about by the person coerced and vi) person coerced did not have a duty to bear this threat. Duress...

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Le résumé en français n'a pas été communiqué par l'auteur. / Le résumé en anglais n'a pas été communiqué par l'auteur.

Currently there are no mechanisms under international criminal law to hold corporations accountable for their role in the commission of human rights abuses. A primary problem with establishing corporate liability under international law, is that it is unclear how to attribute liability to corporations for international crimes. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of domestic principles of corporate attribution utilized in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia. The domestic principles are then reconciled with current international law principles and enumerated crimes of international criminal law. It is argued that a flexible approach is optimal for the imposition of corporate liability under international law. While some of the domestic principles work better than others at first glance, ultimately all can and should be used at international law to end impunity for corporate crimes.

Currently there are no mechanisms under international criminal law to hold corporations accountable for their role in the commission of human rights abuses. A primary problem with establishing corporate liability under international law, is that it is unclear how to attribute liability to corporations for international crimes. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of domestic principles of corporate attribution utilized in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia. The domestic principles are then reconciled with current international law principles and enumerated crimes of international criminal law. It is argued that a flexible approach is optimal for the imposition of corporate liability under international law. While some of the domestic principles work better than others at first glance, ultimately all can and should be used at international law to end impunity for corporate crimes.

The suppression of transnational organised crime has continued to rise on the agenda of the international community and is today an affirmed goal of most states. To increase the effectiveness of suppression, it is necessary for states to cooperate across borders in criminal investigations. The legal regime by which this is done is called mutual legal assistance, MLA, and is one of the most practically important developments in public international law over recent decades. The development however has led to several unanswered questions regarding the position of the individual in the procedure. Those are manifested in three main areas, namely; the requirements for employment of MLA; the application of exceptions and; human rights protection.   This thesis elaborates on and analyses the balance between effectiveness in formal international law enforcement and the protection of fundamental rights in such procedures in the three main ambiguous areas.   The analysis points to the importance of the principle of reciprocity for effective cooperation and argues that the conditions for MLA should not be altered. It argues that the number of exceptions shall be kept at a minimum. However, the efforts to abolish the exception for offences of a political nature should be halted or at least approached with more caution. This is true also of when concerning terrorism offences.   The analysis shows that the protection available to the person whom the MLA request concerns is inadequate. There is an urgent need to reform the system in that respect, in particular by opening channels of complaint.   The final conclusion is that, in light of the unquestionable importance of MLA in the suppression of transnational organised crime, it is possible to make limited reform in the areas of human rights and the guarantee of a right to a fair trial without jeopardising the necessary effectiveness of the system.

Magister Legum - LLM / Enforced disappearances are a heinous violation of numerous human rights enshrined in many international conventions. However, they have not been adequately addressed in many jurisdictions. This crime is very common within countries on the continent of Africa, which despite having plenty of conflicts, under report cases of enforced disappearances. This research paper investigates the transitional justice mechanisms implemented in Uganda to deal with the phenomenon of enforced disappearances. It analyses the mechanisms implemented by the Government of Uganda and those by Non- Governmental Organisations. The paper examines also how the phenomenon of enforced disappearances has been dealt with in other countries such as Morocco, Kenya and South Africa. The paper suggests several recommendations to Uganda after having made a comparison with the selected countries on how to deal with the crime of enforced disappearances.

Magister Legum - LLM / By any standard, victim participation is a relatively new phenomenon in international criminal law proceedings. Incredible advances have been made in the effort to end impunity for crimes against umanity, war crimes, genocide and, more recently, aggression. As a result, great strides have been made in ensuring the direct participation of victims of grave violations of human rights in court proceedings against their perpetrators. Prior to this, grave violations of human rights committed during conflicts or periods of mass violence were either largely ignored or even if action was taken, victims of the crimes hardly had a ‘say’ in the proceedings. With the advent of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) new dawn in the proceedings of international criminal law has emerged. The statutes that govern the ICC and ECCC have given a voice to victims in court proceeding buy ensuring victims participation.Despite these advances, scholars have criticized victim participation for being inconsistent in its application at the International Criminal Court.1 The criticism has come from scholars who have highlighted the unintended consequences of victim participation in court proceedings, arguing that their participation has resulted in the under- or misrepresentation of the actual experience of survivors of war, mass violence, or repression. These problems have arisen largely because the need to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused and to protect their due process rights, to abide by the rules of evidence and procedure, and to conserve judicial resources all cut against victim-witnesses'ability to tell their stories at these tribunals thereby resulting in a limited, and sometimes inaccurate, record of victims' experience. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM