18TH SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES TO THE ROME STATUTE
Day 2 (3 December 2019)
Name of the Event: Book Launch “Défense devant les juridictions pénales internationales” (Side Event hosted by the Democratic Republic of Congo)
Overview by: Francisca De Castro, Junior Research Associate PILPG-NL
Main Highlights:
The book “Défense devant les juridictions pénales internationales” was written with the objective of filling a gap in available French literature on defenses.
The book is composed of a first part which is a comprehensive academic review on the relevant framework for international penal law, as well as a practitioners’ approach on how to build a strong defense considering the problems, traps and solutions.
Summary of the Event:
Mr. Brice Van Erps opened the discussion with an English introduction into the book, discussing the composition. The first part of the book is an academic and comprehensive review of the framework of international penal law. The second part is more of a guide for practitioners for building a solid defense in front of international jurisdictions.
Mr. Philippe Currat presented the book in French and gave an insightful approach into the different difficulties he had encountered which led to the development of this book, including the lack of available literature in French on international penal law. Furthermore, he emphasized how difficult it is to talk about defenses, particularly relating to defenses in international courts as it is very technical. Mr. Currat touched upon the purpose of this book to serve as a guide to compile the experiences of attorneys who passed the bar in different countries. Attorneys underlined the difficulties of building a strong defense in international jurisdictions because of the different experiences from different national judicial trainings. Finally, a point that was extensively stressed was the importance for all parties of building a strong defense. They discussed that having a solid prosecution is also important for the defense and this point is equally stressed in the book.