A Blog on International Justice
by John RWD Jones* – iLawyer and Co-Counsel to Mustafa Amine Badreddine before the STL The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was created by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to try those responsible for killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in a bomb blast on 14 February 2005. The trial is [...]
What does it entail to bear witness to events? What responsibility does the act of witnessing carry? These are the central questions evoked by George Azar and Mariam Shahin’s documentary film “Beirut Photographer.” 1982: George Azar, young American photojournalist, was in Lebanon during the Sabra and Shatila massacres, where hundreds of defenseless Palestinian refugees were [...]
Today, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) unanimously dismissed challenges by the Defence asking for a review of the decision to try in absentia the four men accused in the 14 February 2005 attack against former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri. The Trial Chamber decided in February to try the four [...]
by Mariya Nikolova A version with footnotes and references is available here. On 24 October 2012, the Appeals Chamber (AC) of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) delivered its decision on the Defence challenges to the jurisdiction and legality of the STL. The AC dismissed the appeals, confirming the Trial Chamber’s (TC) previous ruling that [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has unanimously dismissed Defence challenges to the Tribunal’s legality. Defence counsel for the four Accused had challenged, before the Trial Chamber, the legality of the Tribunal arguing that it violates Lebanese sovereignty, that the Tribunal has selective jurisdiction and no authority to try the Accused. On [...]
by Miša Zgonec-Rozej The Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) held in its decision of 27 July 2012 that the STL had been lawfully established and that it has jurisdiction to try those accused of committing the 14th February 2005 attack against the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and connected cases. [...]
The Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) confirmed the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to try those accused of committing the 14 February 2005 attack against former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and connected cases, in a decision published yesterday. The Trial Chamber dismissed all the motions of the defence counsel, who argued that the Tribunal [...]
Last February, the Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) decided to try in absentia the four persons accused to be involved in the perpetration of the terrorist attack against the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005. In a recent motion, the Defence Team of one of the accused, [...]
The Defence teams of the four accused indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have filed this week preliminary motions challenging the jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Though each of the defense teams representing Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra filed separate motions, many of their [...]
On 4 May 2012, the defence team for Mustafa Badreddine filed a motion challenging the legality of the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (‘STL’). According to the Badreddine team, the Security Council exceeded its powers when it adopted Resolution 1757(2007) establishing the Tribunal. The Badreddine team argued, based partly on the Tadic interlocutory [...]
General Jamil El Sayed The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued a ruling yesterday on the ongoing case regarding the disclosure of documents relating to the three-and-a-half year long detention of Jamil El Sayed. El Sayed, Lebanon’s former security service director, was one of four suspects arrested in 2005 following the assassination of Rafiq Hariri. [...]
The iLawyer Team has recently published the first issue of its newsletter, featuring a variety of material and commentary on international justice. The newsletter includes a double interview with Mr Daniel Bellemare, outgoing Prosecutor, and François Roux, Head of the Defence Office at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the first UN-sponsored court with jurisdiction over [...]
L’équipe d’iLawyerblog a récemment publié sa première newsletter. Dans celle-ci figure notamment une interview de François Roux, le Chef du Bureau de la Défense du Tribunal Spécial pour le Liban. En voici la version française : 1. Pourquoi avez-vous choisi ce poste et quels ont été les principaux défis jusqu’à présent? La création d’un Bureau de la [...]
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), in cooperation with Saint Joseph University’s Modern Arab World Research Center and UMAM Documentation and Research launched the website “Badna Naaref” (We Want to Know) in Beirut, Lebanon. The website is part of a pilot project entitled “Talking between Generations: A Wartime Diary” that started in February 2011 [...]
By Geoff Roberts (Consultant, Sabra Defence Team, STL) As it approached the end of the three years since its inception that was originally agreed between the Lebanese Government and the UN for it to complete its work, the STL issued a decision initiating the first trial in absentia since Nuremberg on 1 February 2012. In [...]
The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon decided yesterday to temporarily suspend proceedings to define the crime of “criminal association”. The Prosecution had filed a confidential request to amend the indictment on 8 February and sought to add a count of “criminal association” to the indictment. The Pre-Trial Judge then asked the Appeals Chamber to [...]
On 7 March 2012, the third annual report detailing the activities of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) during the past year (2011-2012) was published. The report marks the beginning of the STL’s second mandate, which began on 1 March and will continue for another three years. Share this:
On 29 February 2012, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Mr Norman Farrell to replace Daniel Bellemare as Chief Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Until recently Deputy-Prosecutor at the ICTY, Mr Farrell is one of the most respected international prosecutors of his generation, widely admired for his integrity, professionalism and work [...]