250 likes | 457 Views
Managing the sways of corruption:. The role of a Prosecutor in an International Hybrid Court. Robert Petit. “Corruption is one of the main obstacles to peace, stability, sustainable development, democracy and human rights around the globe.”
E N D
Managing the sways of corruption: The role of a Prosecutor in an International Hybrid Court RobertPetit
“Corruption is one of the main obstacles to peace, stability, sustainable development, democracy and human rights around the globe.” The Lima Declaration against Corruption, 8th International Conference against Corruption, September 1997, Lima, Peru in UNODCCP Centre for International Crime Prevention, Global Programme Against Corruption: Strengthening Judicial Integrity Against Corruption. Vienna, March 2001
Part II: Shades of Corruption in a hybrid context • A hybrid court • Understanding the context in which a hybrid court operates • Potential corrupting influences for Prosecutors of hybrid courts
Part II: Shades of corruption in a hybrid context A hybrid court
Part II: Shades of corruption in a hybrid context Understanding the context in which a hybrid court operates Consider…
“…Corruption in the judicial system was ranked among all factors as the most significant obstacle to using the court system” World Bank, Cambodia. Governance and Corruption Diagnostic: Evidence from Citizen, Enterprise and Public Official Surveys, May 2000
“During a May visit, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the human rights situation had ‘deteriorated’ and identified the lack of an independent judiciary as the single most important problem.” World Report, Human Rights Watch, Cambodia January 2007 p.1
Part II: Shades of corruption in a hybrid context Potential corrupting influences for Prosecutors of hybrid courts • External pressure • Internal pressure
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor • The conventional role of a Prosecutor • Understanding the ‘international' part of a hybrid process • Understanding the national legal culture • Building an environment of independency and transparency • Capacity building
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor The conventional role of a Prosecutor • Qualifications • Duties
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor Understanding the ‘international’ part of a hybrid process
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor Understanding the national legal culture • Civil Vs Common Law • Understanding national self-perception
Understanding national self-perception “Judges and Prosecutors described their work as involving the strict and objective application of legal rules to a particular case…[they] referred to the legal code as the basis of legal authority which they were duty-bound to apply. Thus they viewed the essence of their professional competence as the ability solely to select and apply the appropriate law.” 'Justice, Accountability and Social Reconstruction: An Interview Study of Bosnian Judges and Prosecutors' (2000) 18 Berkeley Journal of International Law 102. p.3
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor Building an environment of independency and transparency
Avoid an “environment in which the chain of command is not clear, lines of responsibility are not always apparent, and the duty to sustain and support the process is often undefined.” Rapoza, Phillip. International Criminal Tribunals in the 21st Century: Hybrid Criminal Tribunals and the Concept of Ownership: Who Owns the Process? 21 Am. U. Int'l L. Rev. 525 2006 at p.4
Part III: Reconsidering the role of a Prosecutor Capacity building “International actors have the opportunity to gain greater sensitivity to local issues, local culture and local approaches to justice at the same time that local actors can learn from international actors.” 'Justice, Accountability and Social Reconstruction: An Interview Study of Bosnian Judges and Prosecutors' (2000) 18 Berkeley Journal of International Law 102. p.10
A hybrid court offers a platform for on-the-job training that far surpasses the “abstract classroom discussion of formal legal rules and principles.” 'Justice, Accountability and Social Reconstruction: An Interview Study of Bosnian Judges and Prosecutors' (2000) 18 Berkeley Journal of International Law 102.
Part IV: Strengthening Prosecutors against corruption • Maintaining personal integrity • Building an external image of independence; using the international glare • Ongoing exchange of education and a supportive environment • Assessment of ongoing exchange of education and support
Part IV: Strengthening Prosecutors against corruption Maintaining personal integrity
Part IV: Strengthening Prosecutors against corruption Building an external image of independence; using the international glare
Part IV: Strengthening Prosecutors against corruption Ongoing exchange of education and a supportive environment
Part IV: Strengthening Prosecutors against corruption Assessment of ongoing exchange of education and support
Part V: Conclusion“Whatever form it takes, corruption is always a two-way transaction, it requires a supply side (the briber) and a demand side (the one who receives the bribe).”Enery Quiñones, 'What is Corruption?' OECD Observer, May 2000
“An ordered society cannot exist in the absence of the rule of law; that the rule of law cannot exist in the absence of an efficiently functioning legal network made up of an independent judiciary, prosecution service and private bar; that such a network cannot exist in the absence of individuals competently trained in the theory and mechanics of the relevant law; and that this network can function effectively only in the absence of corruption.” Symposium outline, The Role of Lawyers, The Bar, and the Bench in preventing and combating corruption within the justice system. 19 & 20 February 2007, Bangkok. P.1