LW7141 - International Criminal Procedure

This module runs across twelve weeks. Each week, you will meet with your Module Tutor for a two-hour workshop. You will be expected to complete independent reading and research in preparation for the workshops. All relevant materials will be indicated on the eLearning portal. These workshops comprise a short lecture to introduce key principles and elucidate particular areas of difficulty or confusion. The workshops will also provide you the opportunity to discuss, debate, and explore the principles, themes, and issues in context with your fellow students and your Tutor.

The members of academic staff who teach on this module possess significant research and practical expertise in the field(s) of international criminal procedure. As such, they will provide you with appropriate academic support. However, the Module Tutor will also draw upon the professional network of the wider teaching team to invite practitioners from international(ised) criminal tribunals to provide workshops/talks on international criminal procedure. These include Prosecuting and defence counsel as well as former judges at international criminal tribunals.

The University is well-positioned to support you in your learning and research, with an excellent library and teaching facilities, access to electronic legal databases and resources, including many international criminal law-related materials, and appropriate software. This module will be designed and managed by your Module Tutor, who will be responsible for guiding you in your engagement and learning on the module. All relevant materials and instructions will be available online through the module eLP site, maintained by your Module Tutor, who will also provide updates on issues of current legal significance as appropriate. Academic support is also available through formative oral feedback and feedforward during timetabled sessions, on assignments, and through the module handbook, which details the delivery structure and University requirements. At programme level, you will be supported by the Programme Leader who will provide you with pastoral support throughout the module and the programme as a whole.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the module you should be able to:
• Understand and explain the key principles and stages of international criminal procedure.
• Contrast the differing types of international criminal procedure in operation at differing international criminal tribunals.
• Analyse and Evaluate the complexities and controversies of international criminal procedure.
• Consider possible reforms to international criminal procedure.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
By the end of the module you should be able to:
• present doctrinal and socio-legal arguments on international criminal procedure, both orally and in writing.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

By the end of the module you should have developed the ability to:

Formative assessment
Students will be given opportunities to submit short opinions that will receive written and/or oral feedback as appropriate, which can be used, as part of their reflective development, to prepare for their summative assessment.

Summative assessment

Students will be assessed by way of written coursework (essay) of 3,000 words or less. Students will be given a choice of essay questions from which they will answer one.

Assessment Criteria and Grade-Related Criteria will be made available to you to support you in completing assessments. Grade-Related Descriptors are descriptions of the level of skills, knowledge and/or attributes that you need to demonstrate in order achieve a certain grade or mark in an assessment, providing a mechanism by which the quality of an assessment can be measured and placed within the overall set of marks.

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This module provides you with a firm grasp of international criminal procedure, beginning with how a potential case is identified, to the investigation process and finally to judgment and possible appeals. Focusing on the permanent International Criminal Court, you will understand essential provisions of the Court’s founding treaty, The Rome Statute, and consider the latest case law on its interpretation. In doing so, you will gain a strong academic and practical understanding of how the Court operates, including its jurisdiction, how a trial is conducted (fairly) and the role of victims in the Court. In particular, you will learn and tackle some of the long-standing dilemma in international criminal justice, including the question of selectivity (who is selected to be prosecuted and who isn’t) and admissibility (when can the Court proceed with a case under the Rome Statute). The module will include guest talks and workshops from practitioners giving you unique practical insight into how international criminal procedure operates. This module is essential for those of you interested in a future career in international criminal law; particularly as legal counsel, but also as an activist and campaigner, researcher, policy-maker, adviser or indeed, any career in which a working knowledge of how international criminal responsibility is pursued is desirable.