What is it about?
Does an international criminal tribunal have the power to compel the appearance of witnesses? If so, under which conditions? What if a prospective witness is a Head of State or a State official? This article analyses the criteria that the international criminal tribunals developed to obtain additional evidence through witness testimony. International criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court enjoy the discretion to order and obtain additional evidence through subpoenas and witness summonses respectively. This is a customary rule of international criminal procedural law. The article maps the content of this rule.
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Why is it important?
This article contributes to the clarification of the procedural rule on issuing subpoenas and witness summons in international criminal justice. The timely issue of the immunities of State officials from subpoenas is explored. The analysis illustrates the tension between pragmatism and normativity faced by international criminal tribunals, as they have considered each request for subpoena, their mandate and the pragmatic objective of the peace process.
Perspectives
My paper ‘International criminal law between pragmatism and normativity: The principle of equality of arms and the discretionary power of international criminal tribunals to obtain additional evidence through subpoenas’ was selected for the Second Tel Aviv University Workshop for Junior Scholars ‘Law Between Normativity and Pragmatism’, University of Tel Aviv, Law Faculty.
Dr Maria Pichou
University of Luxembourg
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Between Pragmatism and Normativity: Legal Standards for Issuing Subpoenas and Witnesses Summonses in International Criminal Procedure, International Criminal Law Review, February 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15718123-01701007.
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