International

Iain Morley QC looks at the Special Tribunal and how it is helping end political assassination in Lebanon.  

On 14 February 2005, at 12.55hrs, in downtown Beirut, the largest-ever bomb in peacetime was detonated as the motorcade of Rafiq Bahaa El Din Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, passed at speed. It killed Hariri, eight members of his convoy, 13 members of the public, and injured 231 others. The explosion was so large it created a 10m crater and an atomic-style mushroom plume. 

John Cammegh looks at the the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal and asks: Reconciliation - or revenge?  

The development of international criminal tribunals over the last 20 years owes much to the maxim “No Peace Without Justice”. But there can be no peace without a winner: it is the winner’s privilege both to dispense the justice and write the history in the aftermath of any conflict. 

A delegation from the Beijing High People’s Court visited London in the summer to find out more about our courts and to experience two mock trials. David Altaras and Christopher Donnellan QC report.  

In late August/early September of this year, a delegation of twenty judges from the Beijing High People’s Court visited London. Their purpose was to discover how the English courts, both civil and criminal, deal with road traffic cases. Richard Wilson QC, having learned of their visit, organised fellow members of 36 Bedford Row to put on two mock trials, one a road traffic accident claim and the other a death by dangerous driving prosecution. There was an enthusiastic response, with members volunteering to write the scripts and to play the various roles of trial judge, counsel and witnesses. In all, twelve barristers gave up a day in court to act out the two trials. BPP University College generously gave us  use of a mock court room plus three other rooms, together with lunch and refreshments throughout the day. 

What does the Bar Council’s Brussels Office do for the Bar? Evanna Fruithof looks at the current priorities, including the proposed European Sales Law.  

It is 12 years since the Bar Council Brussels Office began operations, with me at its helm. September 1999 also saw the first European Council conclusions on Justice and Home Affairs – heralding an ever-expanding EU remit which accounts for a significant portion of the work of the Brussels Office today. 

Timothy Hanson explains the role of the Jurats in the Channel Islands and asks whether this is a system that the English courts should adopt.  

Many legal systems place great importance upon lay persons adjudicating in courts and tribunals but how those persons are chosen, the precise role that they perform and the qualities that they are supposed to bring to the legal process are issues that often excite lively debate. 

John Thompson spent 18 years in prison, 14 of them on Death Row. Just before his execution date he was exonerated after it transpired there had been non-disclosure of prosecution evidence. He lost his subsequent claim for compensation and set up a charity, Resurrection from Exoneration, to assist exonerated prisoners integrate into society. Max Hardy reports.  

John Thompson of New Orleans knew that he would die on 20 May 1999 because that was the date fixed for his execution by the State of Louisiana. 14 years of exhausted appeals in State and Federal courts were going to conclude with the “chair” in Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Only gubernatorial clemency stood between him and certain death: or failing that a miracle. Fortunately for him providence was on his side. 

The Bar Council recently co-hosted “English Law Week” in Moscow to promote the English Bar in Russia. Rupert D’Cruz and Christian Wisskirchen report.  

Between 27-29 June, the Bar Council co-hosted the first “English Law Week” at the British Embassy in Moscow. Organised in conjunction with the British Embassy, the Law Society, the British-Russian Law Association and the Anglo-Russian Law Association, this was the largest event to promote English legal services in Russia to date. 

Rory Field looks at the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and how it can open the door for barristers at home to explore opportunities abroad.  

What is the IAP and what can it do for a barrister in England or Wales? More relevant perhaps is how could it be of benefit to you the reader? 

Khawar Qureshi QC sets out the law behind the military intervention in Libya and examines its legality

Libya is no stranger to UN sanctions or bombing by NATO Member State warplanes.

On 15 April 1986, in purported retaliation for alleged involvement of the Libyan regime in terrorist attacks, US planes dropped bombs on Libyan territory.
From 1993 to 2003, Libya was subjected to UN Security Council Resolution based economic sanctions as a result of alleged involvement in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 (the Lockerbie bombing). 

Osama bin Laden was killed in May in a US military operation.  As the dust in Pakistan settles, Ali Naseem Bajwa QC and  Anna Morris consider the issues raised

President Obama’s announcement on 2 May that al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan was a dramatic and significant moment. The news was widely welcomed; however, once some of the facts of the operation became public, voices of disquiet began to emerge about the state killing of an unarmed person in another sovereign state and the fact that he would now never stand trial for his alleged crimes. Here we will examine those concerns and analyse some of the main issues that are engaged by the killing of bin Laden.