Glossary of legal terms
A
ACCUSED
The person who has been charged with committing the offence, another term for the defendant in a criminal case.
ACQUITTAL
A verdict at the end of a criminal trial that the accused person (the defendant) is not guilty of the crime.
ACTUS REUS
The act or element of a crime that must be proven to secure a conviction of the accused. Actus reus is the direct action (for example, the act of pulling the trigger and shooting someone) to commit a crime, whereas Mens rea relates to the mental state of the accused and his/her criminal intent (for example mens rea for murder would require the accused to have intended to kill the victim, whereas an accused who killed a person in self defence would not have this intent).
AD HOC TRIBUNALS
These are the two international tribunals established by the UN Security Council to investigate and prosecute serious breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Latin term "ad hoc” means, in a legal context: "for this purpose" – denoting that these two courts were each established for a particular purpose and with their areas of jurisdiction each limited to a specific territory and to a particular period of time in which the crimes with which they are concerned were committed. In this respect, they differ from the International Criminal Court, which is a permanent court whose jurisdiction is neither limited to a particular territory or period of time. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, was created by the UN Security Council in 1993; the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which sits in Arusha, Tanzania, was created by the UN Security Council in 1994.
ADJOURNMENT
The postponement or suspension of a court hearing or trial session until a later date.
AIDING AND ABETTING (in relation to genocide)
Rendering practical assistance or encouragement to those who directly perpetrate acts of genocide in such a way as to contribute to the commission of the crime, even if the person giving the assistance or encouragement does not share the specific genocidal intent of the perpetrator.
ALLEGATION
Any statement of fact in a pleading before a court. It is usually the duty of the party who makes an allegation to produce evidence in support of it at trial – for example, for the prosecution to bring before the court evidence in support of its contention that the defendant committed the alleged crime.
AMNESTY
An amnesty is a grant of immunity from otherwise applicable law that is given by a state to a designated class of persons for a designated class of offences. Typically, amnesties are invoked as an exceptional measure to respond to an extraordinary event or period in the life of a nation. In some cases, amnesties have been given to individuals who would otherwise be liable for prosecution for crimes they have committed; in other cases, amnesties have been given to individuals after their prosecution, allowing for them to be released from imprisonment before serving the full term of their sentence. This type of amnesty is often called a pardon.
APPEALS CHAMBER
A higher court that has jurisdiction to hear appeals against the judgement and/or sentence imposed by the trial court and to review the procedural decisions of the trial court. The Appeals Chamber has authority to overturn decisions of the trial court - Trial Chamber - and to order an acquittal or a retrial, or to amend the sentence imposed by the trial court.
ARREST WARRANT
A written document issued by a judge or a magistrate authorising the police to arrest a specified person. Arrest warrants are issued when law enforcement personnel present evidence sufficient to convince the judge or magistrate that it is reasonably likely that a crime has taken place and that the person named in the warrant may be criminally responsible for that crime.
ATTORNEY
A person who is legally authorised to act on behalf of another; in the legal context, a person trained and authorised to practice law who can conduct lawsuits, give legal advice and represent parties before the court.
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CASE LAW
the body of law established by following earlier judicial decisions or precedents. A precedent is a judicial decision in one case that may be used as a standard in subsequent similar cases.
CHAMBERS
A description of the way judges organise themselves to conduct trials and other hearings. A number of judges – usually three – will form one trial chamber. The SCSL has two trial chambers and one Appeals chamber. Chamber can also mean a private room. In some domestic systems, it can also refer to a Court from which the public are excluded and in which a Judge may conduct certain sorts of hearings. Some legal proceedings can be held in Chambers – for example, when a particular point of law is being argued - and the public is not admitted. In international courts, these hearings are known as in camera hearings or closed sessions (see below).
CHARGE
A formal accusation of a crime usually made by the police after interrogation (see also Indictment)
CIVIL LAW
this term is applied in two different ways:
- as a colloquial way of describing the law practised in continental Europe and many other countries including in the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and Francophone Africa, led by an investigating judge, as opposed to common law (see below), the adversarial system of law practised in countries following the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition practised in Anglophone Africa; and
- to denote that branch of the law that concerns the rights and relations of private citizens - for example, disputes relating to unpaid debts or the enforcement/breach of contracts. It does not include criminal, immigration, employment or family matters.
CLOSED SESSION / SESSION IN CAMERA
The Latin term "in camera” means, in a legal context: "in the chamber", “in private”. A closed session or session in camera is a court hearing session that is closed to the public. Court hearings are normally held in public but in certain circumstances the judge may determine that the court should sit in private session, with the public excluded – for example, when the case concerns important matters of national security or when particularly stringent witness protection measures apply. Having heard the relevant evidence, the court may then return to open session allowing members of the public to be readmitted to the court room.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
The summarising statements made at the end of a trial by prosecution and defence in which each side provides its assessment of the evidence and testimony presented during the trial and sets out the reasons why the verdict should go in its favour.
COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY
The concept that one may be criminally responsible for the acts of one's subordinates, if one was in a position to prevent and punish the subordinates' crimes and failed to do so – for example, a senior officer in the army’s chain of command can be held liable for crimes committed by soldiers under his command if he knew or had reason to know such crimes were likely to be committed but took no action to prevent them or to punish those responsible. This is true even if the superior himself did not issue any orders to commit the crime. By the same token, a soldier who commits war crimes cannot evade liability on the grounds that he was “only following orders” from his superior. (See also Individual criminal responsibility)
COMMON LAW
The system of law based on the adversarial system of trial, where the opposing parties (the prosecution and defence), following strict rules of procedure and evidence, present evidence before an independent arbiter of fact (either a jury or a judge) who decides whether the accused person has been proven guilty or should be acquitted. Judicial decisions arrived at through this system act as precedents which are used as standards and interpretations to be taken into account in reaching other judicial decisions in the future, so expanding and refining the scope and meaning of the law.
COMPENSATION
One of the elements of Reparations (see below), meaning financial or other remuneration for any economically-assessable damage resulting from the abuse, including physical or mental harm, loss of earnings, need for medical treatment and so on.
COMPLEMENTARITY
The principle articulated in Article 17 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court that investigations and prosecutions should occur at a national level, rather than before the ICC, unless national authorities are genuinely unwilling or unable to do so.
COMPLETION STRATEGY
The policy goal enunciated by a United Nations Security Council Resolution to complete the work of the two ad hoc tribunals (ICTY and ICTR) by 2010. The Special Court for Sierra Leone also has a completion strategy to conclude its work by 2009.
CONSPIRACY
As defined in common law, an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime. In some jurisdictions, conspiracy itself constitutes a criminal act. For example, persons who conspire together to murder another person commit a criminal offence (conspiracy to murder) even if the murder is not carried out; persons who conspire together to overthrow the state but are apprehended before they can take direct action towards that objective are liable to be prosecuted for treason. Conspiracy does not exist in international law except in relation to genocide.
CONTEMPT OF COURT
This is an offence against the integrity, dignity or effective functioning of the court, which is liable to be punished by the judge(s) presiding over the court. It encompasses acts such as deliberately obstructing the court's proceedings by refusing to obey a court order or interfering with court procedures, or expressing abuse against or showing disrespect for the court. A witness who refused to answer a legitimate question put by the court could be “held in contempt”, as could a lawyer who failed to file court papers on time. So could a journalist who published a document or revealed information, such as the name of a witness, that the court had ordered should not be publicly divulged (for example, because doing so might put the witness at risk from others). Contempt may be punishable by fines or imprisonment.
CONVICT
Used as a verb, this means to find an accused person guilty. Used as a noun, it means a person serving a prison sentence. An alternative term, used in international criminal law, is convicted person.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
The ICC’s statute (Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the ICC) provides the most authoritative listing of acts which constitute a ‘crime against humanity’ when committed, knowingly, as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population:
- Murder;
- Extermination;
- Enslavement;
- Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
- Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
- Torture; Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
- Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender (…) or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
- Enforced disappearance of persons;
- The crime of apartheid;
- Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
The Rome Statute of the ICC affirms that crimes against humanity can be perpetrated in times of peace. There is no legal requirement for the attack on a civilian population to be linked with armed conflict, whether international or non-international in character. Crimes against humanity are subject to universal jurisdiction (see below).
CRIMINAL LAW
The body of statutes and other laws that defines conduct which is prohibited by the government because it is held to threaten, harm or otherwise endanger the safety and welfare of the public, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on those who breach these laws.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
At trial, this is the process of close questioning by prosecution and defence lawyers of the witnesses called by the other side, in order to test, challenge or discredit their testimony given under direct examination. Thus, the defence lawyer has the opportunity to cross-examine a witness who has just given evidence (under direct examination – i.e. in response to questions of the prosecution lawyer) for the prosecution, and the prosecution lawyer has a similar opportunity, after a defence witness has given evidence, to cross-examine that defence witness.
CUSTOMARY LAW
This is the body of law which reflects traditional common practice that has become an intrinsic part of the accepted and expected conduct in a community and is treated as a legal requirement. In order to be recognised as customary law, a practice must be reasonable in nature and it must have been followed continuously, and as if it were right, since the beginning of legal memory. Although customary law contains norms that may not be found in treaties, it part of international law, so long as states acknowledge these norms to be binding and act according to them. The International Committee of the Red Cross did a big study in 2005 which found 161 rules which states agree should apply during armed conflict, even if the states have not necessarily signed up to specific international conventions banning these acts. Some examples would include the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian and military targets; the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks; the obligation to respect and protect medical and religious personnel, medical units and convoys.
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DEFENCE COUNSEL / DEFENCE LAWYER
A lawyer who represents and advises an accused person and presents their case to the court, with the aim of ensuring that the accused person receives a fair trial.
DETENTION UNIT
A place where those accused before international criminal courts are imprisoned before they are convicted.
DEFENDANT
A person charged with a crime and against whom court proceedings are brought (see Accused above).
DISAPPEARANCES
The abduction, arrest, or kidnapping of a person, usually by State authorities followed by a refusal to give information on his or her whereabouts.
DUE PROCESS
The concept that those subject to legal proceedings, notably persons charged with committing crimes, should have their rights under the law respected at all times throughout the process from arrest through to trial and sentencing, and should receive the full benefit and protections that those rights confer – for example, an accused person’s right to due process is breached if he is denied access to legal counsel or representation by a defence lawyer. In international criminal law, these rights are often referred to as fair trial rights.
DUTY COUNSEL
A lawyer, whose name is picked from a duty roster, assigned by a court to take on a case immediately.
DISCLOSURE
The process of making known evidence to the opposing party in a trial and to the Trial Chamber. Prior to trial, the prosecutor is usually required to disclose or make available to the defence copies of the witness statements of those who he will call to testify before the court as well as other documents such as photographic evidence or forensic medical reports that “are material” – that is, likely to be of relevance to - the defence case.
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EXPERT WITNESS
An expert witness is one whose testimony will relate to specific scientific, technical or other matters and who has the professional expertise and training to be able to testify authoritatively on the particular matter in question. For example, in a murder trial one kind of expert witness could be a trained pathologist who can testify as to the precise cause and time of death of the deceased person, or a ballistics expert who can testify as to the type and make of firearm that was used to cause the death.
EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE
This is evidence that tends to show the innocence of an accused person. When gathered by the Prosecutor, there are often special disclosure obligations associated with exculpatory evidence.
EX PARTE
The Latin term "ex parte" means, in a legal context: "proceeding brought by one person in the absence of another.” Any contact with a court by one party in the absence of, or without giving notice to the other party. For example, a request for a search warrant is an ex parte proceeding since the person subject to the search is not notified of the proceeding in case they could use such knowledge to disrupt the purpose of the search. Parties may also request ex parte hearings for other purposes.
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FORENSIC EVIDENCE
This is evidence that is obtained by the application of scientific methods and is susceptible to use in court proceedings; examples include medical evidence such as obtained through DNA testing or pathological examination of a deceased person found in a mass grave, and evidence from a ballistics expert.
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GENEVA CONVENTIONS
The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 form the cornerstone of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is a set of rules that seeks to limit the consequences of war by affording protection to civilians and others taking no part in the conflict (such as combatants who have been put out of action by being wounded) during international and internal armed conflicts. Attacks on civilians carried out in wartime are violations of IHL; deliberate attacks on civilians in wartime are war crimes.
GENOCIDE
The term is included in the statutes of all the international courts and tribunals (but not the UN- backed Special Court for Sierra Leone), taking the definition from the 1948 Genocide Convention, which defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” In addition to individual criminal responsibility for genocide, the Genocide Convention also establishes State responsibility—that is, international legal responsibility of the State itself for breaching its obligations under the convention. Parties to the convention can bring a case before the UN’s International Court of Justice alleging that another State party is responsible for genocide.
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HABEAS CORPUS
Latin term literally meaning “produce the body” which provides a legal right of recourse against unlawful detention. Parties can apply for a writ of habeus corpus challenging the validity of a person's detention. If the Court or judge is satisfied that the detention may be unlawful, the custodian (or suspected custodian) is required to appear and justify it, failing which release is ordered.
HYBRID COURTS
These are courts comprising a mix of international and national judges. One example is the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) established by the Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1315 (2000) of 4 August 2000. The SCSL has a mix of Sierra Leonean and non-Sierra Leonean judges, and the officers serving the court – in its prosecutor’s office and registry – likewise include both Sierra Leonean and foreign nationals.
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IN CAMERA
See closed session.
INDICTMENT
A formal document accusing one or more persons of committing a crime or series of crimes. It is usually read out to the accused at the commencement of the trial before they are asked to plead, i.e. to declare whether they are guilty or not guilty of the crime.
INDIGENT
A person who is indigent is one who is poor and cannot afford basic necessities of life like food, shelter and clothes. In a legal context, it refers to a defendant who cannot afford to engage the services of a lawyer to represent them before the court and to fight their case; in such cases, where an individual can demonstrate that he is indigent, the court may assign a lawyer to represent the defendant funded by the court or a legal aid system.
INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
The concept that it is individual persons, not organizations or abstract entities that commit and should bear legal responsibility for crimes. A person’s criminal behaviour cannot be excused simply because they were acting at the behest of, or on behalf of an organization that employed them when they committed the crime (for example, a soldier, police officer, government official, party official). Individual criminal responsibility may attach in two ways: direct and indirect. The person who is the perpetrator of a crime bears direct individual criminal responsibility; this includes both the person who physically commits the crime and the person who orders, incites or is in some other way complicit in it. In addition, a direct perpetrator may also bear indirect individual criminal responsibility for the crimes of his subordinates if s/he failed to prevent or punish the crime but was in a position to do so. See Article 25 of the Rome Statute of the ICC and Article 6 of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
INITIAL APPEARANCE / FIRST APPEARANCE
This is the first appearance in court of a person who has been arrested at which the charges are read, the accused person is advised of their rights and the court decides whether or not the accused may be provisionally released (and, if so, the amount of the bail that must be deposited in order to secure the accused person’s release). In states in which the rule of law is observed, this first appearance is normally before a judge or magistrate and occurs within a matter of hours rather than days after arrest.
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
In July 1998, at a UN conference in Rome, 120 governments voted to adopt the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Statute establishes a permanent court, which sits in The Hague, Netherlands, with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW
The law practised by international, hybrid and domestic courts and tribunals pertaining to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In international courts, this also includes criminal procedure.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
The body of laws that seeks to protect civilians and other non-combatants in times of international and internal armed conflict. Commonly known as “the laws of war” -- in Latin, jus in bello -- and largely set down in the Geneva Conventions (see above), the organizational guardian of which is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), headquartered in Geneva.
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JUDGMENT
The finding and decision of a court at the conclusion of a trial or other legal proceedings.
Joinder: joining parties or claims in a court case – for example, in order to try several accused together in one trial on the grounds that there is a common case to be made against them. A prosecutor usually has to present arguments to a judge or panel of judges if s/he wants to have two or more accused tried together.
JOINT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE
A legal concept, that has been used in prosecutions before the ICTY in order to assign individual criminal responsibility as a perpetrator to all those individuals who together were responsible for furthering the underlying criminal enterprise - for example, a prison guard at a camp where prisoners were murdered would be held criminally responsible for murder, on the grounds that he formed part of a joint criminal enterprise, if his actions as a guard in some way contributed to the furtherance of the crimes, even if he did not directly participate in the physical act of killing.
JURISPRUDENCE
This is the collection of reported cases from previous legal hearings that together form the body of law within a jurisdiction [see also case law above].
JURISDICTION
The area and matters over which a court has legal authority. When a proceeding in respect of a certain subject matter can only be brought in one court, that court is said to have exclusive jurisdiction; when it can be brought in any one of several courts, they are said to have concurrent jurisdiction. Jurisdiction also signifies the geographical limits within which the judgments or orders of a court can be enforced or executed.
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LEGACY
Ensuring that international assistance to judicial institutions (e.g. the Special Court for Sierra Leone) has an impact on the domestic level, for instance that it helps to build the skills of local lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.
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MENS REA
See above under Actus reus.
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O
OPENING STATEMENT
Statements made at the start of a trial by attorneys/lawyers for each side. The opening statement outlines the party's legal position and previews the evidence that will be introduced later during the trial.
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PROSECUTION
The institution or conduct of legal proceedings against a person accused of a crime. Under the Special Court for Sierra Leone Statute, the Prosecutor is responsible "for the investigation and prosecution of persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and crimes under Sierra Leonean law" committed in Sierra Leone since 30 November, 1996. The Prosecutor acts independently as a separate organ of the Court, and may not receive instruction from any government or other source.
PLEA BARGAIN
A negotiated agreement between the prosecution and the defence in a criminal case which exists in some common law systems. Typically, the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a specified charge in exchange for an oral promise of a lower sentence. The judges do not have to agree to give the promised sentence.
PRECEDENT
A judicial decision that may be used as a standard in subsequent similar cases or which serves as binding authority in all subsequent similar cases.
PRE-TRIAL CHAMBER
The ICC has three pre-trial chambers which issue summons or arrest warrants, hold pre-trial hearings on issues such as protection of witnesses, representation of victims, and confirm charges against an accused.
PRIMA FACIE CASE
"Prima facie" is a Latin term, meaning "on the face of it", that is used in a legal context to define whether there is enough evidence to warrant a case continuing to trial in the judicial process. Where a “prima facie case” has been established against an accused person, the court will agree that investigations to find further evidence against the accused should continue and probably that the accused should remain in custody while this occurs and before the case is brought to trial.
PRESIDING JUDGE
In jurisdictions with several judges, one of them is usually chosen to direct the management of the courts, usually on a rotating basis. The presiding judge usually chairs the panel of several judges (see Chambers) during hearings and supervises the business of the court (oversees the calendar, and chairs meetings of the judges)
PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE
A legal concept that means that an accused is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, at the end of a trial and appeal.
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R
RULES OF PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE
The rules which govern the procedures and the introduction and admissibility of evidence in legal proceedings.
REDACTION
Legal documents made public by courts often come in a ‘redacted’ form, where key information has been edited out to protect the identity of witnesses. A court must have approved such redactions only after hearing arguments from all parties. Revealing information which has been redacted can constitute contempt of court.
REGISTRY
The Registry is one of the four organs of the SCSL. It is responsible for those functions which support the Court process as a whole, including the management and administration of the court. In the ICC it is also one of the four organs of the court. Its core functions are to provide administrative and operational support to the judiciary and to the Office of the Prosecutor. It also provides support for its own activities concerning defence, victims, communications and security.
REPARATIONS
Compensation in money or materials as repayment for human rights abuses.
S
SEALED INDICTMENT
An indictment can be sealed so that it stays non-public until it is unsealed. A sealed indictment might be used where the prosecutor, for whatever reason, does not wish to alert the prospective defendant to the fact that criminal charges are being investigated.
SENTENCE
The punishment imposed by a court on a person convicted of a crime.
SEVERANCE
The opposite of Joinder (see above), severance is when one of more accused are removed from a joint indictment in order to be tried separately.
SAFE HOUSE
A place of safety; residence in an undisclosed location, a secured location suitable for hiding witnesses or other persons perceived as being at risk.
STANDARD OF PROOF
The legal standard of proof indicating the degree to which the point must be proven. For instance, the standard of proof at the end of a criminal trial is “beyond reasonable doubt.”
STATUTE
Statute has two meanings:
- a statute is a law promulgated by legislative act, as distinct from common law (precedents) arising from the judgments of courts.
- The founding or governing text which establishes and defines the jurisdiction, organization and functioning of tribunals such as the ICC.
SUB JUDICE
This Latin term meaning “under judicial consideration” denotes information that is to be kept within the confines of the court (often only temporarily) and not disclosed in the public domain; breach by journalists or others of the sub judice rules could constitute contempt of court.
SUBPOENA
An official summons requiring a witness to attend a legal proceeding such as a trial or a deposition at a specific time and place to give testimony upon a certain matter. A person failing to obey a subpoena summoning them to appear before a court is liable to be punished for contempt of court.
SUMMONS
Order to appear or to produce evidence to a court, similar to a subpoena.
SUSPECT
Someone who is under suspicion of having committed a crime. If the individual is formally charged with an offence, the reference is generally to a defendant or an accused, rather than a suspect. Both have rights under international law.
"SYSTEM CRIMES"
This term that was first used by B. V. A. Rolling, the Dutch judge on the Tokyo Tribunal, to connote crimes that are of such a massive nature as to require a "system" to perpetrate them, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and large-scale war crimes."
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TRIAL
A legal proceeding before a court to examine and assess the evidence against a person accused of a crime. Trials are normally conducted in open session, with public attendance, though in some trials, certain sessions may be conducted in closed session (see in camera above)
TRIAL CHAMBER
This is the chamber of the court before which trials are conducted and from which judgments may be appealed to the Appeals Chamber. The ad hoc tribunals – the ICTY and ICTR – each have several trial chambers and a joint Appeals Chamber based in The Hague. The ICC, with 18 judges, has several Pre-Trial and Trial Chambers and one Appeals Chamber. The SCSL has two Trial Chambers and one Appeals Chamber (See above, chambers).
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UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION
The doctrine of universal jurisdiction allows national courts to investigate and prosecute cases of the gravest crimes against humanity anywhere in the world, regardless of the nationality of the accused or the victim, or the absence of any links to the state where the court is located. The most common form of jurisdiction is territorial, where the courts of one state exercise jurisdiction over people who are suspected of committing a crime in their territory. However, international law has long recognized that courts could exercise other forms of jurisdiction with respect to certain crimes, such as piracy and war crimes. Today international law permits and, in some cases, requires states to exercise jurisdiction over people suspected of certain grave crimes under international law, even if they took place in the territory of another state, involved suspects or victims who are not nationals of their state or posed no direct threat to the state’s own particular security interests. Such an exercise of jurisdiction is known as universal jurisdiction.
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VERDICT
Decision reached by a jury or judge on the matters referred to it in a criminal or civil trial.
W
WAR CRIMES (official term Violations of the Laws and Customs of War).
War crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in either international or non-international armed conflict. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines war crimes in international conflicts as “grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions” (acts against people protected by the Geneva Conventions including wilful killing, torture and inhuman treatment, deprivation of the rights to fair and regular trial, hostage-taking and unlawful imprisonment); and “other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law” (such as “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities” and “attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives”). In the case of an armed conflict not of an international character, the Rome Statute defines war crimes as serious violations of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions (acts against people taking no active part in the hostilities, including violence to life and person, cruel treatment and torture) and other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law (including rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, and any other form of sexual violence).
WITNESS PROTECTION
A series of measures that can be granted through Court orders to protect witnesses, such as voice and image distortion, redaction of identifying information from documents, closed sessions.
WITNESS TESTIMONY (oral/ written)
This is written or oral evidence given by a witness under oath at trial or in a deposition. A witness is a person who testifies under oath.
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