Crime & Punishment Workshop Series
presents
Sarah Finnin
University of Melbourne
Complicity in International Criminal Law
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
12:30 – 2:00
Solarium (room FA2), Falconer Hall
84 Queen’s Park
This paper provides an introduction to the author’s research regarding the elements of accessorial liability under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by focusing on the elements of ‘ordering’ the commission of international crimes under Article 25(3)(b). In particular, the paper considers questions such as: what constitutes an order; whether individuals can incur liability for merely transmitting the orders of their superiors; what types of individuals will possess the necessary authority to give orders; and, whether the order must instruct the principal perpetrators to engage in conduct that actually constitutes a crime, or whether it might be sufficient that the conduct could result in the commission of a crime. The paper will analyse these issues with reference to previous cases adjudicated by international tribunals. These will include the Galić case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which concerned the campaign of sniping conducted by the Bosnian Serb Army in the city of Sarajevo; the Strugar case before the same Tribunal, which concerned a shelling campaign that resulted in the destruction of Old Town Dubrovnik in Croatia; and a number of post-World War II trials.
Sarah Finnin holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from The University of Melbourne, and is a Research Assistant at the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law at the Melbourne Law School. She has been admitted as an Australian legal practitioner since 2006. Between 2004 and 2007, Sarah made three extended visits to Washington DC to work with the US military-appointed defence counsel to David Hicks, an Australian citizen designated for trial before a US military commission at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. On her third visit to Washington DC, she also worked more generally with the Office of the Chief Defense Counsel for the US Office of Military Commissions. In 2007–09, Sarah acted as the first associate to Justice Lex Lasry at the Supreme Court of Victoria. Sarah is currently a PhD candidate with the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law and is writing her thesis on elements of accessorial modes of responsibility under Article 25 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
A light lunch will be provided.
For more workshop information, please contact Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.
