The Rise and Fall of Universal Jurisdiction
Presented by Luc H. Reydams, Associate Professional Specialist, Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame. Associate Professor of the Practice. Fellow of the Joan B. Kroc. Institute for International Peace Studies and of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.
He will discuss , in HANDBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW, W. Schabas and N. Bernaz, eds., London: Routledge, 2010
Abstract
The article considers the rise and fall of universal jurisdiction. I begin by revisiting the unique Zeitgeist of the 1990s and by broaching the actors behind the campaign for universal jurisdiction. Then I discuss how these actors, mainly non-governmental organizations, framed the issue and how policy-oriented international lawyers constructed the legal argument. Thereafter I review the (alleged) historical sources of universal jurisdiction and their contemporary (distorted) interpretation. My subsequent examination of post-World War II multilateral treaty practice finds little enthusiasm among states for universal jurisdiction. After that I assess cases of the last fifteen or so years, distinguishing between 鈥渉ard鈥� cases (in courts) and 鈥渧irtual鈥� cases (in the media). Next I show in a brief post mortem how a backlash in Africa, the United States, Israel, and China against virtual trials in Europe caused the premature end of universal jurisdiction. In the final section I draw some lessons and ponder its future.
About the speaker
Reydams earned degrees in law and in political sciences from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Universit茅 Catholique de Louvain. He practiced law for a number of years in Brussels before pursuing degrees in international law at the Center for Civil and Human Rights (Notre Dame Law School).
Since joining the Political Science Department in 2002, he has taught Introduction to International Law, Transnational Social Movements, International Organizations, and Nuclear Non-Proliferation. He also has taught as a Visiting Professor at the Catholic Universities of Lublin (Poland) and Leuven (Belgium). Reydams research focuses on the intersections between international law and international relations.
In 2003, he published Universal Jurisdiction: International and Municipal Legal Perspectives with Oxford University Press (2003). More recent publications deal with the prosecutorial policy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, patterns of armed conflict and humanitarian law responses, and US anti-terrorism policy.
He also co-ordinates , a five-year interdisciplinary international research project under advance publication contract with Oxford University Press.
January through June 2008, Reydams is a Senior Research Fellow at the Leuven Center for Global Governance Studies (). Finally, he also organized a symposium and film festival 鈥淭he Changing Face of Armed Conflict鈥� at Notre Dame in February 2009 on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the Geneva "Red Cross" Conventions.