LAW 899 - Atrocity Law and Policy: Practicing before International Criminal Tribunals

College of Law
2 credit(s) Irregularly

International criminal law is a new discipline within the legal profession. Over the past 12 years, the discipline has developed at an exponential rate. Cutting edge rulings and decisions are setting the cornerstones in international criminal law for years to come. It is a rare opportunity for teachers, students, practitioners, and policy makers to be present at the beginnings of a new area of the law. Rarer still is the opportunity for students to be able to take a seminar from one of the senior international practitioners in the field, using his work as the basis for this seminar. Drawing upon unique experiences in West Africa, a great deal of the new ideas and fresh thinking began with our work as the Chief Prosecutor of the international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, called the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The seminar will use, as a case study, the entire creative process in West Africa of establishing the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone; from planning, preparation, and executing the many tasks necessary to prosecute war criminals in a forgotten and tragic land. Using real world and contemporary cases, vignettes, and scenarios this 2 credit hour seminar will give students a rare opportunity, to study and do research with the practitioner who created the entire prosecutorial plan to prosecute those who bore the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity that resulted in the murder, rape, maiming, and mutilation of over 1.2 million human beings.