Draft Out Outline – January 2019 Dr. J. J.

Wamwara

CLS 322 LITIGATION IN INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS

Pre-requisite: CLS 222 PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, CLS 220 CRIMINAL
PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE

Purpose of the Course

To acquaint students with various international courts, their jurisdiction and procedure.

Expected Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course, learners should be able to:
1. Explain the history of international judicial organs
2. Identify various international courts and tribunals.
3. Determine the jurisdiction of those courts and tribunals.
4. Describe the trial processes in those courts and tribunals.
5. Argue a moot court problem in international litigation.

Course Content:
History of international judicial organs, International courts and tribunals and respective
jurisdiction-; rules of practice and procedure of the International courts and tribunals-International
Criminal Court, International Court of Justice, African Court on Human and Peoples Rights; case
management; East African Court of Justice (its structure, jurisdiction and legal practice), a study
of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Criminal Tribunal For
Yugoslavia. Case theory; pretrial processes; trial processes; appellate procedure, A practical court
process in the East African Court of Justice.

Teaching Methodologies:
Lectures, tutorials, group discussions, and seminars.

Instructional Materials/Equipment:
Handouts, chalk/white board, resource persons, statutes and case law, LCD Projector, DVD,
computers, videos, internet

Course Assessment:
Student Performance
The moot court process will constitute for 30% and end of semester examination constituting the
remaining 70% of the marks

Core Textbooks and Journals for the Course:

1. Robert Cryer, Håkan Friman, Darryl Robinson & Elizabeth Wilmshurst, An Introduction to
International Criminal Law and Procedure, Second edition, Cambridge University Press
(2010),
2. Duff, A. (2006). The trial on trial. Oxford: Hart.
3. Giorgetti, C. (2012). The rules, practice, and jurisprudence of international courts and
tribunals. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.
Draft Out Outline – January 2019 Dr. J. J. Wamwara

Week 1 In Pursuit of Peace: Historical Foundations of International

Tribunals and Courts

• In the search of for International Accountability for

International Wrongful Acts
• Early International Treaties and Agreements

Compulsory Readings

• Beth Van Schaack and Ron Slye, A Concise History of

International Criminal Law (2007), Available at:
http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/facpubs/626
• Marco Sassòli, Antoine A. Bouvier & Anne Quintin, “How Does
Law Protect in War, Chapters 2 and 3.

Further Readings
•

Week 2 Accountability of International Crimes after the Two World

Wars
• Hang the Kaiser: Accounting to Atrocities of the First World War
• The Inter-War Period and the League of Nations Efforts at
Accountability
• The Second World War and the International Criminal Tribunals
o The Nuremburg Trials
o The International Criminal Tribunal For the Far East
o The Military Trials by the Victors’ Powers
o The UN, the International Law Commission, and the
International Criminal Court.
Compulsory Readings

• Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and

Enforcement of Penalties, Report to the Preliminary Peace
Conference, March 29, 1919.
• Robert Cryer, Håkan Friman, Darryl Robinson & Elizabeth
Wilmshurst, An Introduction to International Criminal Law and
Procedure, Second edition, Cambridge University Press (2010),
pp. 109 – 121.

Further Readings
•
Week 3 The World War Two Trials and its Legacy on International
Criminal Tribunals & Courts

• The Nuremburg Trials and their legacy

Draft Out Outline – January 2019 Dr. J. J. Wamwara

• The Tokyo Trials

• The Military Commissions Trials

Compulsory Readings

• The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Law Reports of

Trials of War Criminals, Volume XIV, HIS MAJESTY’S Stationary
Office, London (1949.
•

Further Reading (recommended)

Week 4 The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia

(ICTY)
• The Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The War in the Balkans and the disintegration of the former
Yugoslavia.
• Atrocities and the UN Resolution establishing the Court
• The Crimes
• Rules of Procedure and Evidence
• Landmark Cases
• ICTY Legacy
Compulsory Readings
•
Further Readings
•
Week 5 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
• Ruanda – Urundi and Colonialism
• The Making of the Hutu – Tutsi Ethnic Hostility
• The 1959 ethnic cleansing
• 1990 – 1994: Rebel Incursion, the final solutions and the
Arusha talks.
• 1,000,000 in 100 days the tale unspeakable monstrosity
• The UN Resolution creating the ICTR
• The Crimes
• Rules of Procedure and Evidence
• Landmark Cases
• ICTR Legacy
Compulsory Readings
Further Readings
•
Draft Out Outline – January 2019 Dr. J. J. Wamwara

Week 6 The International Criminal Court (ICC)

• Efforts before the 1998 Rome Conference
• The Rome Conference of 1998
• The Court comes to life – July 2002.
• The Rome Statute of the ICC.
• The Jurisdiction of the ICC
• The Crimes and the Elements of Crimes
• Rules of Procedure and Evidence
Compulsory Readings
Further Reading
•

Week 7 Other International Criminal Tribunals and Courts

• Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Special Court for Lebanon
• Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Lebanon
• Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals

Week 8 Other International Courts and Tribunals

• International Court of Justice

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration
• International Centre for the Settlement of Investment
Disputes
• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
• World Trade Organization
• Administrative Tribunals for International Organization
• The African Court of Human and People’s Rights

Week 9 Moot Court Preliminaries

Week 10 Moot Court Preliminaries/Semi-Finals

Week 11 The ICC and the Future of International Criminal Tribunals

Week 12 The Practice before the International Criminal Tribunals:

Substantive and Procedural Requirements
Week 13 The Practice of International Law: A view from a Practitioner
Week 14 The Practice of Law in Other International Tribunals and Courts
Draft Out Outline – January 2019 Dr. J. J. Wamwara

Week 14 Revision Class

Textbooks and Journals for Further Reading

1. Courts and tribunals. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

2. Tanford, J. A., & Keele, L. S. (2012). The pretrial process. New Providence, NJ: LexisNexis
3. Nolan, J. R., & Durning, K. A. (2009). Appellate procedure. Eagan, MN: West.
4. United States., & United States. (2005). Amendments to the Federal rules of appellate
procedure: Communication from the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court of the United States
transmitting amendments to the Federal rules of appellate procedure that have been adopted
by the Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2072. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.
5. Sales, B. D. (2012). The trial process. New York: Plenum Press.
6. Dessem, R. L. (2012). Pretrial litigation in a nutshell. St. Paul, MN: West.