22. The Challenge Of ‘Firsts’ In International Criminal Justice: First Courts, First Judges, And Issues Of First Impression

Abstract

In the 1990s, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) were the first international criminal courts (ICCs) since the post-World War II Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals. The decision-making approaches were applied to many issues of first impression in international criminal law. This chapter discusses four cases. The first case is the ICTR's decision on the definition of rape and whether rape is an act of genocide in Prosecutor v . Akayesu . The second case is the ICTY's decision on whether duress is a defense to the killing of innocent people in Prosecutor v. Erdemovic . The third is the SCSL's decision on the status of amnesty in an international criminal proceeding in Prosecutor v. Kallon and Kamara . The fourth is the ICC's interpretation of its statute and rules on the parameters of victim participation in the proceedings of Prosecutor v. Lubanga Dyilo . Keywords: decision-making approaches; international criminal court; International Criminal Justice; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)