For the author, a judge is a person with a high ethical and moral capacity who respects their position. When we think of a court, we think about a place where we confront the truth, where every single individual, every judge and prosecutor, every victim and witness, and every accused person, offender, and the condemned, come together to reveal the naked truth. The main objective of criminal proceedings is to uphold a pure juridical system with full ethical conscience in order to protect the rights of all individuals, including members of the general public. Judges of criminal courts are required to be independent in order to pursue the truth and uphold judicial conscience, which is itself an institution based on the professional values of criminal justice. A judge with ample judicial conscience should not be afraid of being attacked or losing their position if they work to uphold and uncover the truth. This implies the independent freedom of judicial justice. If justice is safe, then the safety of the victims and the accused will also be guaranteed. That is why confidence in the professional standards of the ethical requirements of judges of national criminal courts or of the International Criminal Court is heavily contingent upon the judges' honesty, which in turn relates to their practical experiences and ought to be based on the knowledge of the essence of humanity. Professional ethics are particularly vital when evaluating diverse values and the very question of the existence of pluralist systems of national and international criminal justice which deal with core international crimes. The intention of this work is to assess the way in which our administration of national and international criminal justice requires judges to be impartial, pursue the truth, and not be the puppets of ventriloquist politicians.

The literature and jurisprudence of international criminal law relies on the claim that international crimes are exceptionally grave. They 'shock the conscience of humanity'. They are 'atrocities'. Yet what makes international crimes especially grave is rarely explained. Addressing the balance, Margaret DeGuzman explains what affect the historical occurrences that led to the heavy reliance on the concept of gravity, including the atrocities of the World War II era, and the crimes of Yugoslavia and Rwanda, had on international law. DeGuzman demonstrates how, in later decades, gravity has been used to obscure controversial value choices. This book looks to build the legitimacy of the international criminal law regime by exposing the value choices that the rhetoric of 'gravity' entails, and poses a new framework for assessing the legitimacy of international criminal law. Instead of solely relying on 'gravity', DeGuzman looks to wider values to ensure the continued legitimacy of international criminal law.

In Judges and the Making of International Criminal Law Joseph Powderly explores the role of judicial creativity in the progressive development of international criminal law. This wide-ranging work unpacks the nature and contours of the international criminal judicial function.

"For the author, a judge is a person with high ethical and moral capacity who respects their position. When we think of a court, we think about a place where we confront the truth, where every single individual, every judge and prosecutor, every victim and witness, and every accused person, offender, and the condemned, come together to reveal the naked truth. The main objective of criminal proceedings is to uphold a pure juridical system with full ethical conscience in order to protect the rights of all individuals, including members of the general public. Judges of criminal courts are required to be independent in order to pursue the truth and uphold judicial conscience, which is itself an institution based on the professional values of criminal justice. A judge with ample judicial conscience should not be afraid of being attacked or losing their position if they work to uphold and uncover the truth. This implies the independent freedom of judicial justice. If justice is safe, then the safety of the victims and the accused will also be guaranteed. That is why confidence in the professional standards of the ethical requirements of judges of national criminal courts or of the International Criminal Court is heavily contingent upon their honesty, which in turn relates to their practical experiences and ought to be based on the knowledge of the essence of humanity. Professional ethics are particularly vital when evaluating diverse values and the very question of pluralist systems of national or international criminal justice which deal with core international crimes. The intention of this work is to evaluate the way in which our administration of national and international criminal justice requires judges to be impartial, pursue the truth, and not be the puppets of politicians"--

A universal criminal court : the emergence of an idea -- The global civil society campaign -- The victory : the independent prosecutor -- The defeat : no universal jurisdiction -- The controversy : gender and forced pregnancy -- The missed chance : banning weapons -- A global civil society achievement : why rejoice?

This book explores concrete situations in which judges are faced with a legislature and an executive that consciously and systematically discard the ideals of the rule of law. It revolves around three basic questions: What happen when states become oppressive and the judiciary contributes to the oppression? How can we, from a legal point of view, evaluate the actions of judges who contribute to oppression? And, thirdly, how can we understand their participation from a moral point of view and support their inclination to resist?

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

This book offers a unique critical analysis of the legal nature, effects and limits of UN Security Council referrals to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Alexandre Skander Galand provides, for the first time, a full picture of two competing understandings of the nature of the Security Council referrals to the ICC, and their respective normative interplay with legal barriers to the exercise of universal prescriptive and adjudicative jurisdiction. The book shows that the application of the Rome Statute through a Security Council referral is inherently limited by the UN Charter as well as the Rome Statute, and can conflict with other branches of international law, including international human rights law, the law on immunities and the law of treaties. Hence, it spells out a conception of the nature and effects of Security Council referrals that responds to these limits and, in turn, informs the reader on the nature of the ICC itself.

Professor Roger Stenson Clark has played a pivotal role in developing International Criminal Law, and the movement against nuclear weapons. He was one of the intellectual and moral fathers of the International Criminal Court. This Festschrift brings together forty-one appreciative friends to honour his remarkable contribution. The distinguished contributors provide incisive contributions ranging from the reform of the Security Council, to rule of law and international justice in Africa, to New Zealand cultural heritage, to customary international law in US courts, and more. Threaded through these richly diverse contributions is one common feature: a belief in values and morality in human conduct, and a passion for transformative use of law, ‘for the sake of present and future generations.’