Guantánamo and Beyond
Exceptional Courts and Military Commissions in Comparative Perspective

This book brings together the viewpoints of leading scholars and policy makers on the topic of exceptional courts and military commissions.

Fionnuala Ni Aoláin (Edited by), Oren Gross (Edited by)

9781107401686, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 September 2013

404 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.53 kg

'The Guantánamo military commissions to try terror suspects are among the most controversial practices in the US 'war on terror' … This welcome book assembles essays by renowned experts who explore all the facets of military commissions - at Guantánamo and elsewhere. They look hard at Guantánamo, but also at past special courts both in and out of the United States, from the military tribunals for American Indians in the nineteenth century, to special courts in Ireland, Canada, and Israel, to today's international criminal tribunals. Readers trying to understand what the Guantánamo commissions are about, but who are put off by advocacy rhetoric and incomprehensible legalisms, now have a comprehensive source that sheds welcome light on the remarkable turn of democratic governments to special courts in times of crisis. I warmly recommend this book.' David Luban, University Professor in Law and Philosophy, Georgetown University

The Military Commissions scheme established by President George W. Bush in November 2001 has garnered considerable controversy. In parallel with the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the creation of military courts has focused significant global attention on the use of such courts to process and try persons suspected of committing terrorist acts or offenses during armed conflict. This book brings together the viewpoints of leading scholars and policy makers on the topic of exceptional courts and military commissions with a series of unique contributions setting out the current 'state of the field'. The book assesses the relationship between such courts and other intersecting and overlapping legal arenas including constitutional law, international law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. By examining the comparative patterns, similarities and disjunctions arising from the use of such courts, this book also analyzes the political and legal challenges that the creation and operation of exceptional courts produces both within democratic states and for the international community.

Part I. Military Commissions and Exceptional Courts in the United States: 1. The development of an exceptional court: the history of the American military commission David Glazier
2. Military commissions in historical perspective: lessons from the US - Dakota war trials Carol Chomsky
3. Contemporary law of war and military commissions Gary Solis
4. Military commissions and the paradigm of prevention David Cole
5. Prevention, detention, and extraordinariness Fiona de Londras
6. In defense of federal criminal courts for terrorism cases in the United States Gabor Rona and Raha Wala
7. Exceptional courts and the structure of American military justice Stephen I. Vladeck
8. Exceptional courts in counterterrorism: lessons from the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA) William C. Banks
Part II. Exceptional Courts and Military Commissions Elsewhere: 9. The law working itself pure? The Canadian experience with exceptional courts and Guantánamo Kent Roach
10. Vicious and virtuous cycles in prosecuting terrorism: the Diplock Court experience John Jackson
11. Terrorism prosecution in the United Kingdom: lessons in the manipulation of criminalization and due process Clive Walker
12. Trying terrorists: the Israeli perspective Emmanuel Gross
13. Exceptional or not? An examination of India's special courts in the national security context Jayanth Krishnan and Viplav Sharma
Part III. International Law, Exceptional Courts and Military Commissions: 14. The right to a fair trial in an extraordinary court David Weissbrodt and Joseph Hansen
15. Approaches and responses of the UN human rights mechanisms to exceptional courts and military commissions Alex Conte
16. Exceptional Courts and the European Convention on Human Rights Steven Greer
17. The legitimacy deficit of exceptional international criminal jurisdiction Yuval Shany.

Subject Areas: International criminal law [LBBZ], International humanitarian law [LBBS], Law [L]