This book provides a comparative assessment of the procedural law governing facts and evidence with references to over 900 judgments and decisions of the European and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as the UN Human Rights Committee. It identifies underlying principles which govern the procedural law of these international human rights institutions. Based on the premise of a contextualized procedural law governing facts and evidence, the book analyzes where current approaches lack a foundation in the contextualization premise and offers solutions for recurring procedural problems relating to questions of subsidiarity in fact-finding, burden and standard of proof, as well as the admissibility and evaluation of evidence.

The idea of human rights as fundamental rights of every person is certainly one of the most powerful ideas of our modern age. Since the American and French revolutions, human rights have been the strongest link between law and democracy. They have played a crucial role when defining notions of constitutionalism and the rule of law. While some human rights have been made famous in national mottos such as the French libertU+fffde, U+fffdegalitU+fffde et fraternitU+fffde, other human rights have not attracted such attention. Generally, substantive human rights have been discussed and appreciated more than procedural human rights. Yet, without an effective and well-balanced set of procedural rights, the substantive rights and freedoms of almost any person or business would not enjoy effective protection before the courts of law. Based on the wish to reopen an international comparative discussion on fundamental notions of civil procedure, this book offers a number of insights into procedural human rights from different jurisdictions and different points of view. While some previous studies focused on Northern Europe, many of the authors in this book come from Southern and Eastern Europe, areas where a common understanding of procedural human rights may be an even more pressing necessity.

Volume 26 in the Procedural Aspects of International Law Monograph Series The Law and Process of the U.N. Human Rights Committee focuses attention how the Committee functions as a decision-making body and brings to light troubling flaws in the Committee’s operations that may undermine its ability to induce compliance. Published under the auspices of the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute (PAIL). For more information about PAIL please go to Pail-Institute.org. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

In a very meaningful way, the health of a judicial system may be judged by the care with which its procedural rights are observed. Now, in a book that takes stock of this important element as it is currently used or abused in a number of the world's legal systems, eighteen outstanding scholars approach the subject through an analysis of the following factors: the theoretical and moral implications of procedural abuses the subjects who commit them the typologies of abusive practices the consequences of abusive practices Several authors report on practices in their own countries, revealing distinct evidence of a significant degree of lowered procedural standards in the United States, several European countries, Australia, Japan, and Latin America. General and final reports provide a comparative framework for an analytical study that will repay the study of anyone concerned with the fairness of our legal institutions.

This comprehensive Research Handbook provides a detailed exploration of the principles and rules that impact the procedures and operation of international courts and tribunals. Within this framework, leading experts examine how the evolution of procedural rules and concepts has given rise to a distinct body of rules known as international procedural law.

This book critically addresses the still prevalent assumption of the individual’s procedural disability in international judicial fora. Against this backdrop, it examines and compares various international enforcement mechanisms from the individual’s perspective. Establishing specific comparison criteria, the book identifies the benefits and weaknesses of these mechanisms and traces the ongoing process of individualization in the field of international procedural law. Thus, it not only maps the complex landscape of international enforcement mechanisms; it also integrates the theoretical question of the individual’s role in international law with the practical issue of enforcing individual rights, thereby connecting the fields of legal theory and international procedural law. Academic readers interested in the intersection of international legal theory and international procedural law will find the book both enjoyable and insightful. Further, researchers and students of public international law will benefit from its in-depth analysis and comparative focus.

A thoroughly revised second edition that incorporates the major changes made in the procedures and practice of the Inter-American Court. Jo M. Pasqualucci analyzes all aspects of the Court's advisory jurisdiction, contentious jurisdiction and provisional measures orders through 2011. She also compares the practice and procedure of the Inter-American Court with that of the European Court of Human Rights, the Permanent Court of Justice and the United Nations Human Rights Committee. She evaluates changes in the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court that entered into force on January 1, 2010, and which substantially change the role of the Inter-American Commission in contentious cases before the Court. She also evaluates the challenges and means of State compliance with the Court's innovative reparations orders. Featuring revisions to every chapter to address the major changes, this book will provide an important and updated resource for scholars, practitioners and students of international human rights law.

In modern societies, full criminal trials are avoided on many occasions. This book is concerned with mechanisms that either divert from or speed up the proceedings. Koen Vriend argues that the fair trial rights as established by the European Court of Human Rights under Article 6 ECHR provide a normative framework that does not only apply in a full criminal trial, but that it can also be used for diverted and shortened proceedings. He shows that the concept of fairness—as derived from ECtHR case law—is a fundamental principle that underlies all criminal law enforcement. It provides for the appropriate framework to assess whether diverted or shortened proceedings are fair and legitimate. The book is intended for criminal law scholars and practitioners and human rights scholars. Dr. Koen Vriend is a Lecturer of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law at the University of Amsterdam.

Central to the book’s purpose is the procedural challenge facing arbitrators at each and every stage of the arbitral process when fairness arguments conflict with efficiency concerns and trade-offs must be determined. Some key themes include how can a tribunal be fair, and in particular be neutral, if parties are so diverse? How can arbitration be made efficient and cost-effective without undue inroads into fairness and accuracy? How does a tribunal do what is best if the parties are choosing a suboptimal process? When can or must an arbitrator ignore procedural choices made by the parties? The author thoroughly evaluates competing arguments and adds his own practical tips, expertly synthesizing and engaging with the conference literature and differing authors’ views. He identifies criteria that offer a harmonized approach to each stage of the arbitral process, with particular attention to such aspects of international arbitration as: appropriate trade-offs between flexibility and certainty; the rights, duties and powers of arbitrators; appointment and challenge of arbitrators; responses to ‘guerilla’ tactics; drafting of arbitration agreements, including specialty clauses; drafting of required commencement notices and response documents; set-off; fast track arbitration and other efficiency options; strategic use of preliminary conferences and timetabling; online arbitration; multi-party, multi-contract, class arbitration; amicus and third party funders; pre-arbitral referees and interim relief; witness evidence, both factual and expert; documentary evidence, production obligations, and challenges to production; identifying applicable law; and remedies and costs.

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and plays a central role in both the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the development of international law. This comprehensive Commentary on the Statute of the International Court of Justice, now in its second edition, analyses in detail not only the Statute of the Court itself but also the related provisions of the United Nations Charter as well as the relevant provisions of the Court's Rules of Procedure. Five years after the first edition was published, the second edition of the Commentary embraces current events before the International Court of Justice as well as before other courts and tribunals relevant for the interpretation and application of its Statute. The Commentary provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of all legal questions and issues the Court has had to address in the past and will have to address in the future. It illuminates the central issues of procedure and substance that the Court and counsel appearing before it face in their day-to-day work. In addition to commentary covering all of the articles of the Statute of the ICJ, plus the relevant articles of the Charter of the United Nations, the book includes three scene-setting chapters: Historical Introduction, General Principles of Procedural Law, and Discontinuation and Withdrawal. The second edition of the Commentary adds two important and instructive chapters on Counter-Claims and Evidentiary Issues. The combination of expert editors and commentators, and their assessment of new developments in the important work of the ICJ, make this a landmark publication in the field of international law.