This book investigates the use of duress as a defence in international criminal law, specifically in cases of child soldiers. The prosecution of children for international crimes often only focuses on whether children can and should be prosecuted under international law. However, it is rarely considered what would happen to these children at the trial stage. This work offers a nuanced approach towards international prosecution and considers how children could be implicated and defended in international courts. This study will be of interest to academics and practitioners working in international criminal law, transitional justice and children’s rights.

Explores how the first treaty-based UN international tribunal's judges innovatively applied the law to perpetrators of international crimes in one of the worst conflicts in recent history.

This examination of the role of the defense in international criminal proceedings highlights its contribution to the development of international criminal law and the fair administration of international criminal justice. Written by leading international practitioners and scholars, it combines the practice and theory of international criminal law in order to provide a first-hand perspective on the significant challenges involved in the administration of international criminal justice. The authors examine, among other issues, the role of the defense during the different stages of international criminal proceedings, the key aspects of defense work which seek to ensure the accused's right to a fair trial, professional ethics, the United Nations Residual Mechanism for International Tribunals, and post-conviction remedies and issues relating to those serving prison sentences.

Can the use of children as soldiers be effectively regulated at an international level? 'Child soldiers in international law' examines how international law has developed to deal with this problematic and emotive issue. Happold looks at the rules restricting the recruitment of children into armed forces - rules which, though important, are often flouted - but also at the wider legal issues arising from child soldiering: to what extent can child soldiers be held criminally liable for their conduct? How should they be treated when captured? How are states obliged to demobilise and reintegrate them into their societies? It also identifies a move away towards enforcement, through the prosecution of those who recruit child soldiers, and proposals for Security Council sanctions against governments and groups who breach their international obligations by using children in armed conflicts. This study will be essential reading for those concerned with public international law, human rights, and the United Nations and peacekeeping.

This volume analyses the prospects and challenges of the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights in context. The book is for all readers interested in African institutions and contemporary global challenges of peace, security, human rights, and international law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This book examines and offers suggestions for how post-conflict practices should conceptualize and address harms committed by child soldiers for successful social reconstruction in the aftermath of mass atrocity. It defends the use of accountability and considers the agency of youth participants in violent conflict as responsible moral entities.

This book examines the rapid development of the fundamental concept of a crime in international criminal law from a comparative law perspective. In this context, particular thought has been given to the catalyzing impact of the criminal law theory that has developed in major world legal systems upon the crystallization of the substantive part of international criminal law. This study offers a critical overview of international and domestic jurisprudence with regard to the construal of the concept of a crime (actus reus, mens rea, defences, modes of liability) and exposes roots of confusion in international criminal law through a comprehensive comparative analysis of substantive criminal laws in selected legal jurisdictions.

This book provides an original legal analysis of child soldiers recruited into armed groups or forces committing mass atrocities and/or genocide as the victims of the genocidal forcible transfer of children. Legal argument is made regarding the lack of criminal culpability of such child soldier 'recruits' for conflict-related international crimes and the inapplicability of currently recommended judicial and non-judicial accountability mechanisms in such cases. The book challenges various anthropological accounts of child soldiers' alleged 'tactical agency' to resist committing atrocity as members of armed groups or forces committing mass atrocity and/or genocide. Also provided are original interpretations of relevant international law including an interpretation of the Rome Statute age-based exclusion from prosecution of persons who were under 18 at the time of perpetrating the crime as substantive law setting an international standard for the humane treatment of child soldiers.

In NATO Rules of Engagement, Camilla Guldahl Cooper offers clarity on a topic prone to confusion and misunderstanding. NATO rules of engagement (ROE) are of considerable political, strategic and operational importance, yet many of its concepts lack clarity. The resulting ambiguity may be detrimental for people involved and for mission accomplishment. Through a thorough analysis of the concept, purpose, development and use of NATO ROE, Cooper contributes to improved understanding and implementation of NATO ROE. The book covers all use of force categories and relevant law relating to the use of force during armed conflicts, including the complex concepts of hostile act and hostile intent, direct participation in hostilities, and the increasing reliance on self-defence during armed conflict.