Due Process Principles before ICTS

Abstract

This chapter examines how due process standards have found their way into the Statutes and practice of International Criminal Tribunals (ICTS), as well as their influence on ICT law-making processes. Prior to examining the influence of due process rights on trials before ICTS, it is pertinent to ascertain what 'due process' entails. The jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as to the scope of habeas corpus writs is clearly influenced by this apparent limitation endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The emergence of more widespread common standards of due process in trials before ICTS surfaces also with respect to the admissibility criteria of criminal evidence. The creation of the Pre-Trial Chamber was primarily framed on the basis of the continental tradition of investigative judges. Furthermore, due process standards are embedded within the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber's structure.Keywords: criminal evidence; due process standards; European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); habeas corpus writs; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); International Criminal Tribunals (ICTS); Pre-Trial Chamber