The process of the transformation, reconciliation, development, and reconstruction of South African society had not been finalized when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Amnesty Committee reached the end of their mandates in 1998 and 2003 respectively. The reality is that apart from those people whose applications for amnesty have failed, there are also those who simply choose not to participate in the proceedings, as well as those who could not participate due to the limitations in the scope of the TRC. It is therefore imperative to implement measures to address...

Religious symbols are loaded with meaning, not only for those who display them. They have generated controversy in many circles, be they religious or secular, public or private, and within or outside academia. Debate has taken place throughout Europe and beyond, at times leading to limitations or bans of religious symbols. While this debate might seem whimsical in occasional flare-ups, it merits closer scrutiny, precisely because it is part of a long-running debate that crosses boundaries and touches upon larger underlying questions. This book singles out a particularly contentious issue:...

Corruption - the abuse of public office for private or political gain - currently receives an increasing amount of attention from scholars and practitioners in various disciplines, including law. While the phenomenon is as old as mankind, the last 15 years have seen the rise of many anti-corruption treaties, aimed at criminalization, prevention, and cooperation. At the same time, there seems to be relatively little work done on corruption in the field of human rights law or international criminal law. This book argues that these areas of law can certainly contribute to fighting corruption, by...

With the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the competences of the European Union in the realm of criminal law have greatly expanded. The EU, in a multitude of legislative instruments, requires its Member States to criminalize a big variety of harmful conducts. However, the criminal law legislation of the EU has, so far, almost exclusively focused on specific criminal offenses and has failed to develop and define general principles of criminal law. The EU frequently refers to conduct, attempt, and participation in its legislation, but fails to determine what these concepts should...

In the modern globalized world, so-called private military and security companies (PMSCs) are employed by a variety of actors in times of both war and peace. They perform a plethora of services for not only international organizations, NGOs, and multinationals, but also various States. It goes without saying that, especially in areas torn apart by armed conflicts, these corporations and their personnel can and sometimes do engage in different types of misconduct that may constitute violations of international law. There are still regulatory gaps in the national and international legal...

Should a politician be free to fiercely attack the religion of a sector of the population? Should he be allowed to strongly reject the culture of a particular minority group? Should religious adherents be allowed to advocate the transition from a democratic to a theocratic state? Should a satirical magazine be free to mock religious figures and practices? These sort of questions concern 'the place of faith in public debate' and continue to dominate public discussion that has been fueled by a series of events, including: the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid, and London * the assassination...

International law and state practices mirror the recognition of children's particular need for protection during peacetime. The prosecution of international crimes committed against children (presented before international courts and tribunals) is also well embedded. While international prosecutions are thus in line with the overall development of protecting children from the consequences of armed conflict and large scale violence, the involvement of the child in international criminal proceedings also gives rise to new questions which relate to the procedural involvement of the child. As...