Sri Lanka – Expert Panel Nominated to Monitor Transitional Justice Mechanisms from Victims’ Perspective : TGTE
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, November 17, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ —
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (“TGTE”) has nominated a
panel of five legal experts to monitor the design and implementation of the
transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka, including the judicial measures
to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and
genocide (“Monitoring Accountability Panel” or “MAP”).
Following the Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka, dated 16
September 2015, and the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on
‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka,’
dated 1 October 2015, the Sri Lankan Government undertook to establish
accountability mechanisms to address the crimes committed during the Sri
Lankan armed conflict. These will include a special criminal court with
foreign judges and prosecutors.
The MAP will provide independent monitoring, advice, and
recommendations, focusing on the effectiveness of accountability measures
from a victims’ perspective. It will also consider issues of fair trial and due
process for suspects and accused persons. The views and recommendations of
the Panel will enable victims and other stakeholders to participate more
effectively in the process and thus enhance the legitimacy of the measures.
The MAP shall formulate its opinions independently – irrespective of party
political considerations or the agenda of any specific group (including the
TGTE) – according to the interests of fair justice, applying international
standards and best practices. The initial mandate of the Panel shall run from
November 2015 to December 2016. Further detail of the Panel’s mandate can
be found in the attached Terms of Reference.
The Members of the Monitoring Accountability Panel have been selected for
their legal expertise in international criminal law and human rights, national
war crimes courts, and regional criminal cases. The Panel Members (in
alphabetical order) are:
Marie Guiraud (France)
Peter Haynes QC (UK)
Richard J Rogers (UK)
Heather Ryan (USA)
Justice Ajit Prakash Shah (India)
Geoffrey Robertson QC will act as a consultant to the Panel, providing
additional independent advice.
Monitoring Accountability Panel, Members’ Bios:
Marie Guiraud (France) – Panel Member:
Marie Guiraud, a French lawyer, has worked on human rights and
international criminal law for fifteen years. She is currently the Civil Party
Lead Co-Lawyer for the victims at the UN-assisted Extraordinary Chambers
in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Representing the interests of nearly 4,000
victims who participate in Case 002/02, Marie serves as the co-lead court
advocate. She has been heavily involved in the design and implementation of
judicial reparations for victims of crimes under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Prior to her current role, Marie worked at a major international human rights
organization and then as a private lawyer in criminal litigation, both before
French and foreign Courts: In France, she represented both defendants and
victims in complex and serious criminal cases. Abroad, Marie represented
victims of international crimes before Ivorian and Congolese Courts and was
a Civil Party Lawyer in case 002/01 before the ECCC.
Peter Haynes QC (UK) Panel Member:
Peter Haynes QC is a British barrister with more than 30 years’ experience in
domestic and international criminal courts. He currently acts as the Lead
Counsel for Jean Pierre Bemba at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and
is the Lead Legal Representative of Victims at the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon (STL). He is one of the very few practitioners who have led cases
before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (where
he appeared for the defence of General Vinko Pandurevic in relation to the
Srebrenica massacre), the ICC and the STL. He has appeared in cases
involving genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and international
terrorism. He has been responsible for development of the jurisprudence,
practice and procedure of the representation of victims in international /
hybrid courts. Peter regularly lectures on the functioning of international
criminal courts and, in particular, victim representation.
Richard J Rogers (UK) – Panel Member and Secretary:
Richard Rogers, a USA (California) and UK qualified lawyer, has 20 years
experience in international criminal law and human rights. He has held senior
positions in the UN and OSCE: He was the OSCE’s Chief legal system
monitor in post-conflict Kosovo, the Principal Defender at the UN’s
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the head of legal
support for the Appeals Chamber at the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal
for Yugoslavia.
Richard is currently assisting several victim groups before the
International Criminal Court and has worked with national war crimes courts
in Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Uganda.
Richard has recently provided expert testimony before the US Congress
House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and spoken to human rights issues
before the European Parliament’s human rights committee and the Bosnian
Parliament. He is a founding partner of Global Diligence LLP.
Heather Ryan (USA) – Panel Member:
Heather Ryan, a US lawyer, has been working in the field of international law
for over 15 years. She is currently a special consultant for the Open Society
Justice Initiative monitoring the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in
Cambodia (ECCC), a hybrid tribunal set up to prosecute senior leaders of the
Khmer Rouge Regime responsible for mass atrocities form 1975-1979. She has
been involved since 2005 in evaluating and reporting on the development and
implementation of the ECCC in terms of compliance with international fair
trial standards, as well as the court’s effectiveness in meeting its goals with
respect to the victims and public. Her experience also includes work at the
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Global
Greengrants Fund, The Coalition for International Justice, teaching
international criminal law, as well as private law practice.
Justice Ajit Prakash Shah (India) – Panel Member:
Justice Shah, a renowned Indian jurist, has been practicing law as an advocate
and judge for around 40 years. Following his practice as a lawyer in Bombay,
Justice Shah was elevated to the bench in 1992, becoming a permanent Judge
of Bombay High Court in 1994. He was promoted to Chief Justice of the
Madras High Court in 2005 and Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in 2008. He
retired from the bench in 2010. Until August 2015, Justice Shah was the
Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India, a body established by the
Indian Government to promote legal reform throughout the justice system.
He was also the Chairperson of the Broadcasting Content Complaints
Council, a self-regulatory body for non-news TV channels set up by
the Indian Broadcasting Foundation in consultation with the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting.
Monitoring Accountability Panel, Consultant’s Bio:
Geoffrey Robertson QC – Consultant:
Geoffrey Robertson QC is founder and joint head of Doughty Street
Chambers. He has had a distinguished career as a trial and appellate counsel,
an international judge, and author of leading textbooks. He has argued many
landmark cases in media, constitutional and criminal law, in the European
Court of Justice; the European Court of Human Rights; the Supreme Court
(House of Lords and Privy Council); the UN War Crimes courts; the World
Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
and in the highest courts of many commonwealth countries.
Geoffrey has, as a jury advocate, appeared in many criminal trials at the Old
Bailey and libel trials in the High Court. He has appeared in several hundred
reported cases in the Court of Appeal (both civil and criminal divisions) and
in judicial reviews in the High Court, and in subsequent appeals. He has a
large advisory practice, for clients including governments, media
corporations, NGO’s and local councils.
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