TY - JOUR
T1 - The prosecution of corporations before a hybrid international criminal tribunal : the new TV and Akhbar Beirut contempt jurisdiction decisions of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
AU - Ventura, Manuel J.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - This case note considers two decisions from two separate Appeals Panels of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (“STL”) which held that the STL possessed the inherent power, pursuant to its inherent jurisdiction in matters relating to contempt, to exert its ratione personae jurisdiction over legal persons – two Lebanese corporations – accused of contemptuous conduct. These decisions opened the door for the first trials of corporate defendants in the history of international criminal law. The analyses of the Appeals Panels are pertinent to unresolved debates before United States (“US”) courts on whether the US Alien Tort Statute recognizes corporate liability for violations of the law of nations; raise the issue of the proper place of the principle of legality when jurisdictional questions arise as well as the proper interpretation of the STL’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence; and also have implications for other international criminal tribunals with provisions regulating contempt of court that are similarly worded to those in place at the STL.
AB - This case note considers two decisions from two separate Appeals Panels of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (“STL”) which held that the STL possessed the inherent power, pursuant to its inherent jurisdiction in matters relating to contempt, to exert its ratione personae jurisdiction over legal persons – two Lebanese corporations – accused of contemptuous conduct. These decisions opened the door for the first trials of corporate defendants in the history of international criminal law. The analyses of the Appeals Panels are pertinent to unresolved debates before United States (“US”) courts on whether the US Alien Tort Statute recognizes corporate liability for violations of the law of nations; raise the issue of the proper place of the principle of legality when jurisdictional questions arise as well as the proper interpretation of the STL’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence; and also have implications for other international criminal tribunals with provisions regulating contempt of court that are similarly worded to those in place at the STL.
KW - Special Tribunal for Lebanon
KW - international criminal law
KW - criminal liability
KW - commercial crimes
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:44769
U2 - 10.5553/AJ/2352068X2016002001004
DO - 10.5553/AJ/2352068X2016002001004
M3 - Article
SN - 2352-068X
VL - 2
SP - 71
EP - 83
JO - African Journal of International Criminal Justice
JF - African Journal of International Criminal Justice
IS - 45323
ER -