http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/rosemary-grey/ Rosemary Grey is writing her PhD on gender justice and the ICC in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales. She attended the Lubanga verdict as part of her field research in The Hague. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-landmark-decision-for-international-justice/ On March 14 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted its first defendant Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, for enlisting, conscripting and using child soldiers under 15 years of age. It took Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford just over half an hour to deliver the verdict, although Mr Lubanga’s sober expression throughout the hearing suggested he saw the conviction coming before it was formally announced. Watching the hearing, I was struck by how much of the Court’s politics could be read into the courtroom proceedings, or perhaps projected onto them. In their uniform black, the lawyers appeared as de-personified components of a system, while Mr Lubanga, all in white, stood out as the human in that system. The person on trial, the individual whose rights to a fair and impartial hearing are spelled out in the ICC Statute.  The judges’ commitment to upholding these rights has been apparent over the six years of the trial. In fact, concerns that Mr Lubanga was not getting a fair trial nearly drove the judges to stop the trial on two occasions. First when the Prosecutor refused to disclose evidence that might have helped Mr Lubanga’s defence, and again when he refused to reveal the identity of an intermediary who had assisted with the investigations. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Rosemary Grey) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-landmark-decision-for-international-justice/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-landmark-decision-for-international-justice/#item8074 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:35:56 +0000 Rosemary Grey | Author bios | The Punch