Selected issues of jurisdiction and practice of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon

Abstract

In the context of globalization and integration, the study of the legal and institutional foundations for the creation and operation of international criminal courts of the «new wave», especially the Special Tribunal of Lebanon, is of great scientific and practical interest. The specified Tribunal, which was created in connection with the terroristic act committed on 14 February 2005 in Beirut, Lebanon, as a result of which the former Prime Minister Of Lebanon Rafic Hariri and other people were killed. On August 18, 2020, after fifteen years of judicial investigation, the Tribunal delivered its judgment in this international crime, namely the case of Ayyash et al. This case caused a great international resonance, which was associated with the peculiarities of the Trial, its organization and sentencing, and also by the fact that the verdict was passed in absentia. The purpose of the article is to determine the legal and institutional framework of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as well as to analyze the practice of this international judicial body. The analysis of the case law of this tribunal is carried out taking into account its impact on the further development of international criminal justice and national legal systems. It is important to note that in modern conditions of active development of the international criminal justice system in the field of view of the science of international law are international criminal courts of the so-called «new wave» or «third generation», the study of legal and institutional principles of which in particular, the activities of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which became the first judicial body with international and national components to have jurisdiction over cases of international terrorism. Key words: international crime, international tribunal, jurisdiction, terrorism, responsibility.