Amicus Curiae Observations of Professors Robinson, DeGuzman, Jalloh and Cryer

22 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2014 Last revised: 14 Oct 2017

See all articles by Darryl Robinson

Darryl Robinson

Queen's University - Faculty of Law

Margaret M. deGuzman

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law

Charles C. Jalloh

Florida International University (FIU) - College of Law

Robert Cryer

University of Nottingham

Date Written: October 10, 2014

Abstract

This is an amicus curiae brief, submitted to the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber with permission of that chamber, in the case of Prosecutor v Laurent Gbagbo. The brief raises concerns about unnecessarily stringent approaches to crimes against humanity, as was arguably shown in certain aspects of the Gbagbo Adjournment Decision. The brief argues, inter alia, that ‘multiple’ must not be conflated with ‘widespread’, that ‘policy’ must not be conflated with ‘systematic’, that a policy need not be explicit or formally adopted, and that policy can be inferred from the implausibility of the crimes being unconnected individual action. The brief offers national and international jurisprudence highlighting that ‘attack’ and ‘policy’ are not onerous thresholds. The Appeals Chamber decided not to address those issues in that appeal, which was quite plausible and appropriate given its other findings and the scope of the appeal. Happily, many of the concerns raised and solutions proposed in the brief have been addressed and reflected in subsequent ICC cases, including the Katanga trial chamber judgment and the Gbagbo confirmation decision.

Keywords: crimes against humanity, policy, attack, multiple, widespread, systematic

Suggested Citation

Robinson, Darryl and deGuzman, Margaret M. and Jalloh, Charles C. and Cryer, Robert, Amicus Curiae Observations of Professors Robinson, DeGuzman, Jalloh and Cryer (October 10, 2014). International Criminal Court, Appeals Chamber, October 9, 2013, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-35, Florida International University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 17-43, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2455920 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2455920

Darryl Robinson (Contact Author)

Queen's University - Faculty of Law ( email )

Macdonald Hall
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 K7L3N6
Canada

Margaret M. DeGuzman

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law ( email )

1719 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
United States

Charles C. Jalloh

Florida International University (FIU) - College of Law ( email )

11200 SW 8th Street
RDB Hall 1097
Miami, FL 33199
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.fiu.edu

Robert Cryer

University of Nottingham ( email )

School of Law
University Park
Nottingham NG7 2RD
United Kingdom
+44 115 9515703 (Phone)
+44 115 9515696 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~llzwww/law/brains/biog.php

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