The usage and limitations of comparative law and the methodology of international criminal procedure

Resumo

The evolution of international criminal procedure can rightfully be considered as one of the most fascinating developments in international adjudication in the past two decades. The speed with which this process took place, resulting in the accretion of an elaborate body of international law and practice almost from zero, is unparalleled. Barely in existence in early 1990s but firmly established at present, international criminal procedure is a corpus of international legal standards that govern the conduct of proceedings before international and hybrid criminal tribunals.[i] Furthermore, it is now also an independent field of study. The sheer number of recent academic treatises and edited works devoted solely to international criminal procedure is evidence to its status as a flourishing legal discipline

[i] On the definition and scope of international criminal procedure, see Editors, ‘Introduction’ in G. Sluiter, S. Linton, H. Friman, S. Vasiliev, and S. Zappalà (eds), International Criminal Procedure: Principles and Rules (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) 13-18.