Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 3, p.621-702 : Complementarity and Alternative Justice
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Date
2009
Authors
Gordon, Gregory S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon Law School
Abstract
The Article demonstrates that, in light of the scale and brutality of
the “Lord’s Resistance Army” (a northern
Ugandan rebel group fighting the government of Yoweri Museveni) atrocities, the nature of the defendants, and the
characteristics of the proposed mechanisms, the contemplated resort
to alternative justice in Uganda will not pass complementarity muster.
On the other hand, the Article shows that, in certain situations, some
forms of alternative justice—especially multiple ones conjoined or
tethered to other domestic judicial efforts—could conceivably pass
the proposed complementarity admissibility test.
Along the way, this analysis also helps illuminate our increasingly
complex understanding of the relationship between international
criminal law and domestic justice in atrocity situations. The
essentially retributive nature of the former is evolving to make way
for restorative goals, and at the same time, certain retributive
characteristics are being incorporated into the latter as alternative
justice mechanisms adapt to deal with the new and horrible
phenomenon of mass atrocity. In the end, the Article shows that
effective atrocity justice entails a proper division of labor between
local restoration and global retribution. While complementarity could
be the ideal medium to achieve that allocation, the proposed analytic
criteria must be used to weave both peace and justice more seamlessly
into the procedural fabric of international criminal law.
Description
82 p.