JEAIL > Volume 15(1); 2022 > Regional Focus & Controversies
Research Paper
Published online: May 30, 2022
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2022.15.1.06

The Special Tribunal of Lebanon: With Reference to Absentia Judgments Models

Ali Aldosari
Kuwait University Faculty of Law
P.O Box 626 Dasman Zip code: 15457 Kuwait
lawyer_karate@hotmail.com

ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original workZuraini Ab Hamid & Mohd Hisham Mohd Kamal is properly cited.

Abstract
The present research examines the fairness of the liability of ‘total’ in absentia trials within three specific circumstances. First: the accused is given sufficient notice of the trial and their right to decline to be present. Second: the accused must have a defence counsel advocating them in the trial. Third: the accused’s absolute right to re-trial should be protected once the judgment has been passed in absentia. The main research question to discern the hypothesis is that the accused can be tried in absentia under international criminal tribunals. Therefore, the focus is on answering which procedural scenarios could be counted as “an absence of the defendant.” The present research questions will be analyzed by examining the practice of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), its theoretical safeguards enshrined in the Statute, and the legal standards from human rights bodies’ jurisprudence.

Keywords : Special Tribunal for Lebanon, International Criminal Law, In Absentia Trial, Human Rights, International Military Tribunal, ICCPR

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