Evidentiary Challenges in Universal Jurisdiction Cases

The book Modes of Liability in International Criminal Law, based on research undertaken under the auspices of the Geneva Academy intends to clarify the conditions of accountability for international crimes.

In this interview, Sonali Wanigabaduge, who is enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Panelists will discuss the struggle of Sednaya's former detainees for justice and accountability, and explore the role of current justice and redress initiatives in the contexts of universal jurisdiction and in the documentation of violations.

Truth Commissions are by now an integral part of the transitional justice vocabulary and practice. This short course will provide a comprehensive, multidimensional and practical examination of this transitional justice mechanism, shedding light on both its aims and the practical challenges it has met or is likely to meet.

This project intends to clarify the conditions of accountability for international crimes by providing a detailed assessment of the customary international law status of, in particular, the actus reus and mens rea elements of modes of liability: planning, instigating, conspiracy, direct and indirect perpetration, co-perpetration, the three forms of joint criminal enterprise, the doctrine of common purpose under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, command responsibility and aiding and abetting.

This project aims at mapping various existing accountability mechanisms, in the context of military interventions, through the lens of the requirements of a transitional justice process in order to identify possibilities and gaps.