War Crimes Tribunal Drafter's Handbook

Establishing an International War Crimes Tribunal Handbook
PILPG's Establishing an International War Crimes Tribunal Handbook analyzes the major issues that need to be addressed in creating a tribunal, discusses the lessons learned from past tribunals, and examines best practices with respect to the Statutes and Rules of the existing tribunals.

The War Crimes Handbook is useful for governments emerging from civil war, international conflict, or transitioning to democracy which are interested in bringing perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice as part of the process for establishing the rule of law and an enduring peace. The War Crimes Handbook will be useful for international organizations and NGOs who are providing assistance to such governments.

The War Crimes Handbook is designed to serve as a practical guide for diplomats and lawyers involved in the establishment of international war crimes tribunals. Emphasis is placed on crafting articles and amendments in such a way as to enhance their effectiveness. The War Crimes Handbook will analyze issues such as: temporal and personal jurisdiction; procedural rights of the defendant; protection of witnesses; standards of competence for defense attorneys; building an initial prosecution strategy; establishing an effective outreach program; the implications of televised trials; the role of fair trial observers; and appropriate use of plea bargaining.

Guide to Researching War Crimes Issues
As a supplement to the War Crimes Tribunal, PILPG will produce a Researching Issues for War Crimes Tribunals Guide. The Guide will discuss the types of precedent and sources that are used as authority in war crimes trials, outline a strategy for researching such sources, and list the major books, law review articles, and websites that are most useful for this type of research. The Guide will be useful to judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, student researchers, and academics as they grapple with the unique issues that arise in war crimes trials.