Book contents
5 - Cumulative convictions and sentencing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2009
Summary
This chapter examines several unique challenges involved in prosecuting and adjudicating international crimes, and highlights some of the pitfalls of the approach chosen by the ad hoc Tribunals. A recurrent issue in the ad hoc jurisprudence has been whether and in what circumstances the Prosecutor may bring charges for more than one crime in respect of the same underlying conduct (for example, the beating of a certain victim) and whether and in what circumstances the trial chamber may enter convictions for more than one crime (for example, cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or customs of war and inhumane treatment as a crime against humanity). While the chambers have long permitted cumulative and alternative charging in indictments without much debate or controversy, the question of when a trial chamber may convict an accused for more than one crime in respect of the same conduct is more complicated and contentious. Section 5.1 sets forth the Tribunals’ law and practice on cumulative and alternative charging, and Section 5.2 addresses cumulative convictions. Section 5.3 then looks at sentencing practice, focusing in particular on the lack of a coherent sentencing practice in the ad hoc Tribunals, the treatment of categories of crimes for sentencing purposes, and the interventionist role of the ad hoc Appeals Chambers in sentencing determinations.
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- International Criminal Law Practitioner Library , pp. 318 - 369Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009