This Week in Points of View

As The BLT noted this morning, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has requested an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan. This week, Legal Times presents a commentary package on such issues of international justice. Richard Dicker and Param-Preet Singh of Human Rights Watch evaluate the work of the International Criminal Court, 10 years after its founding treaty. They find real progress at the ICC, but also allege certain missteps. Plus, there’s one issue that may be on the mind of the Sudanese president: How exactly does the ICC apprehend suspects?

And sometimes, countries try war crimes inside their borders. Alexander Koff and Joseph Morales discuss Sierra Leone’s judicial efforts through a Special Court to punish war criminals. Koff and Morales conclude that whatever the Special Court’s ultimate success, “it is a solid and creative attempt to combine the best practices of international law with the legitimacy of a local court.”

(And for background on the United States’ own efforts at international justice, Jonathan Bush has previously discussed this nation’s treatment of suspected war criminals at Nuremberg.)