Week 13: The Limits of Criminal Justice (International Criminal Law in Canada)

Question 1

According to the guest speaker, Terry Beitner (director of war crimes at department of justice), what is criminal law?

Answer 1

Consensus model

- The reflection of our society’s values: changes as our values change (ex: Trudeau making weed legal)

Question 2

How is international criminal law enforced? what are some issues with setting up temporary courts?

Answer 2

UN bodies create temporary international criminal courts (some are permanent)

• bunch of states uniting at international level to enforce laws
• the hague: ICC (Canada was the first to sign on, others have still not signed on), popular place for international courts

Issues

• western lawyers with huge salary sitting next to local lawyers who make peanuts
• lacking adequate equipment (books etc.)
• Local courtrooms are not set up to accommodate people comfortably for long hours

Question 3

What were war reparations? What were the Nuremberg tribunals?

Answer 3

Countries who were excessive in their war efforts cut checks for the damaged countries (if they lost) - this was the way until 2nd world war

Nuremberg tribunals

• first ever individual punishments for war criminals
• held in Nuremberg because this is where Nazi ideals were born and revered by the German public

Question 4

What are the core international crimes? Define them briefly

Answer 4

War crimes - conduct that goes beyond military necessity, cannot commit war crimes against your own people (measure = what is needed for legitimate war)

Crimes against humanity - predicate crimes (individual acts), become war crime when they are done in a wide-spread or systematic fashion against a civilian population

Genocide - ultimate crime against humanity, enumerated acts committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnical, racial or religious group

Aggression - any act that breaches another countries sovereignty through military means (ex: ship blockades, shelling, bombing), starting an armed conflict

• current def (prof): manifest violation of the UN charter that cannot be justified
• leadership crime: responsible folks are the guys who put the state machinery in play

Question 5

What are the requirements for crimes against humanity?

Answer 5

1. attack against civilian population (or identifiable group)
2. widespread or systematic
3. includes enumerated acts
4. knowledge of the attack

Question 6

What are the rules of war in Canada?

Answer 6

Hummanity (you don’t cause unecessary suffering)
Proportionality (as long as the amount of civilians that you kill is not excessive to the goal
Distinction

Question 7

Which of the war crimes is missing in Canadian legislation (domestic)?

Answer 7

Aggression - Canada currently enforces laws on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide
Canada’s domestic ICL regime expands traditional rule - can enforce ICL against non-citizens for serious international crimes committed abroad