[SCL Lecture] Book launch: The Global Prosecution of Core Crimes under International Law

It is distressing to note that whereas persons are investigated, prosecuted and punished for ordinary crimes such as theft - just to give an example - the same may not be said when core crimes under international law are concerned. An examination of the reasons for this is warranted. Whereas crimes are duly investigated, prosecutions are scant since individuals are not surrendered and/or extradited for the purposes of undergoing trial. This counts for both the horizontal (inter-State) and vertical (supranational) systems of enforcement.

The extent to which obstacles to the surrender and/or extradition of individuals exist must be studied since enforcement is the Achilles’ heel of international criminal law. Both systems of enforcement should be inspected holistically, and the inter-relationship between them should be scrutinised. This panel discussion, celebrating the launch of the book The Global Prosecution of Core Crimes under International Law, authored by Dr Christopher Soler and published by T.M.C. Asser Press/Springer Verlag, will focus on:

* The extra-ordinary dynamics of system criminality
* The relevant jurisprudence relating to State cooperation and dicta concerning the grounds for refusal of surrender to the International Criminal Court;
* The case-law of criminal courts, human rights courts and State practice in connection with grounds for refusal of extradition to another State purporting to exert jurisdiction over a core crime;
* The obligation to extradite or prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare) under international law; and
* The structuring of a supranational legal framework which sows the seeds for a global criminal justice system designed to defeat impunity by virtue of the proliferation of judicial panels and partnerships, and other nascent initiatives.

Panellists:

1. Dr Cristopher Soler, Lecturer in Maltese criminal law, international criminal law and public international law, at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, and author of the book ‘The Global Prosecution of Core Crimes under International Law’
2. Judge Kimberly Prost, Judge at the International Criminal Court
3. Dr Yasmin Naqvi, Legal Officer in the Immediate Office of the Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals