Commitment and cooperation on high courts -- How do judges decide? -- Planting the seed : choosing high court judges -- Who hears the particular appeal? -- Do judges care about others? -- Slipping through the screen: how do courts choose the cases they hear? -- The influence of the parties on judges : accuracy or affiliation? -- Norms, leadership, and consensus

High courts around the world hold a revered place in the legal hierarchy. These courts are the presumed impartial final arbiters as individuals, institutions, and nations resolve their legal differences. But they also buttress and mitigate the influence of other political actors, protect minority rights, and set directions for policy. The comparative empirical analysis offered in this volume highlights important differences between constitutional courts but also clarifies the unity of procedure, process, and practice in the world’s highest judicial institutions. High Courts in Global Perspective pulls back the curtain on the interlocutors of court systems internationally. This book creates a framework for a comparative analysis that weaves together a collective narrative on high court behavior and the scholarship needed for a deeper understanding of cross-national contexts. From the U.S. federal courts to the constitutional courts of Africa, from the high courts in Latin America to the Court of Justice of the European Union, high courts perform different functions in different societies, and the contributors take us through particularities of regulation and legislative review as well as considering the legitimacy of the court to serve as an honest broker in times of political transition. Unique in its focus and groundbreaking in its access, this comparative study will help scholars better understand the roles that constitutional courts and judges play in deciding some of the most divisive issues facing societies across the globe. From Africa to Europe to Australia and continents and nations in between, we get an insider’s look into the construction and workings of the world’s courts while also receiving an object lesson on best practices in comparative quantitative scholarship today. Contributors: Aylin Aydin-Cakir, Yeditepe University, Turkey * Tanya Bagashka, University of Houston * Clifford Carrubba, Emory University * Amanda Driscoll, Florida State University * Joshua Fischman, University of Virginia * Joshua Fjelstul, Washington University in St. Louis * Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago * Melinda Gann Hall, Michigan State University * Chris Hanretty, University of London * Lori Hausegger, Boise State University * Diana Kapiszewski, Georgetown University * Lewis A. Kornhauser, New York University * Dominique H. Lewis, Texas A&M University * Chien-Chih Lin, Academia Sinica, Taiwan * Sunita Parikh, Washington University in St. Louis * Russell Smyth, Monash University, Australia * Christopher Zorn, Pennsylvania State University Constitutionalism and Democracy

Judicial decision-making may ideally be impartial, but in reality it is influenced by many different factors, including institutional context, ideological commitment, fellow justices on a panel, and personal preference. Empirical literature in this area increasingly analyzes this complex collection of factors in isolation, when a larger sample size of comparative institutional contexts can help assess the impact of the procedures, norms, and rules on key institutional decisions, such as how appeals are decided. Four basic institutional questions from a comparative perspective help address these studies regardless of institutional context or government framework. Who decides, or how is a justice appointed? How does an appeal reach the court; what processes occur? Who is before the court, or how do the characteristics of the litigants and third parties affect judicial decision-making? How does the court decide the appeal, or what institutional norms and strategic behaviors do the judges perform to obtain their preferred outcome? This book explains how the answers to these institutional questions largely determine the influence of political preferences of individual judges and the degree of cooperation among judges at a given point in time. The authors apply these four fundamental institutional questions to empirical work on the Supreme Courts of the US, UK, Canada, India, and the High Court of Australia. The ultimate purpose of this book is to promote a deeper understanding of how institutional differences affect judicial decision-making, using empirical studies of supreme courts in countries with similar basic structures but with sufficient differences to enable meaningful comparison.

This first-of-its-kind volume surveys twenty constitutional judges who 'towered' over their peers, exploring their complexities and flaws.

"This book is about how the design of a high court influences how judges decide appeals. It is comforting and convenient to believe the "rule of law" dictates how a judge on a high court will decide crucial issues ranging from the death penalty and national security to regulation of banks or railways. However, we argue that how a court is designed can make a fundamental difference in who wins a particular case and how the law develops."--Page [xiii].

International criminal law has developed considerably in the last decade and a half, resulting in a complex and re-invigorated discipline. This has impacted directly on the popularity of the study of the subject, particularly on postgraduate law degrees. This textbook serves these courses by providing an introduction to the principles of international criminal law and processes. Written by four international lawyers with experience of teaching international criminal law, it is accessible yet sophisticated in its approach. It covers substantive international criminal law, the institutions designed to enforce it and their procedures, and the international law applicable to domestic prosecutions of international crimes. It will be essential reading for students and teachers of international criminal law. In addition, practitioners and researchers in the field (and in related fields such as criminal law), students of international law and international relations will find this introduction invaluable.

The Pursuit of a Brave New World in International Law presents critical perspectives on various inter-related themes in the areas of human rights, international law, terrorism and international criminal justice. The discussions reflect the wide-ranging subjects that John Dugard has engaged with over the last five decades as an international law scholar, teacher and judge. The essays pay homage to Professor Dugard’s impressive body of work as both a theorist and practitioner of international law and international human rights law. While some of the discussions in the volume critically examine his views, as expressed in his academic writings, judicial opinions and official United Nations reports, others deal with subjects that have been inspired by or are related to Dugard’s work. Contributors are: Neil Boister, Trevor P. Chimimba, James Crawford, David Dyzenhaus, Christopher Greenwood, Larissa van den Herik, Christof Heyns, Maurice Kamto, Tiyanjana Maluwa, Max du Plessis, Thomas Probert, Arnold Pronto, Philippe Sands, William A. Schabas, Ivan Shearer, Hennie Strydom, Mia Swart, Dire Tladi, Annemarieke Vermeer-Künzli and Abdulqawi Yusuf.

The Annotated Digest of the International Criminal Court (2008) is the third volume of an annual series. It compiles a selection of the most significant legal findings contained in the public decisions rendered by the International Criminal Court in 2008.Abstracts are quoted in their official English version. Abstracts are inserted under the relevant articles of the Statute, Rules of Procedure and Evidence and Regulations of the Court, with a short description/summary of their precise topic. Where the English version was not available, abstracts are quoted in their original French version, but the short description/summary in English allows non-French speaking readers to identify their contents. A quick reference system and index make it easy to refer to other decisions quoted in the Digests Series.

This book examines violence against women in Africa and criminal justice from the perspective of African scholars, practitioners and experts. As a global and long-standing issue, violence against women is gaining public visibility across the African continent with some states announcing a national crisis warranting immediate redress. At the global level, the elimination of all forms of violence against all women and girls forms a key part of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality. Split across two volumes, these books present a comprehensive analysis of the latest research and theories, principles and practices of criminal justice systems, criminal justice accountability mechanisms, and the key challenges women face in their quest for justice on the African continent. This volume (II) focusses on sexual violence and vulnerable women’s access to justice in Africa. Volume I focusses on legislation and its impact, the limitations of criminal justice responses, and the cultural and social norms regarding access to justice. Together, they adopt a comparative approach that highlight gaps and good practices to provide a rich source of authoritative information for promoting an intra-African dialogue and cross-fertilization of ideas across the different criminal justice traditions in Africa. Both volumes seek to advance discussions on eliminating violence against women in Africa and speak to those interested in criminal justice, violence, gender studies and African legal studies.