Héctor Olásolo – författare

Crimes of atrocity have profound and long-lasting effects on any society. The difference between triggering and preventing these tragic crimes often amounts to the choice between national potential preserved or destroyed. It is also important to recognise that they are not inevitable: the commission of these crimes requires a collective effort, an organisational context, and long planning and preparation. Thus, the idea of strengthening preventative action has taken on greater relevance, and is now encompassed in the emerging notion of 'responsibility to prevent'. International courts and tribunals contribute to this effort by ending impunity for past crimes. Focusing investigations and prosecution on the highest leadership maximises the impact of this contribution. The ICC has an additional preventative mandate which is fulfilled by its timely intervention in the form of preliminary examinations. Moreover, when situations of atrocity crimes are triggered, its complementarity regime incentivises states to stop violence and comply with their duties to investigate and prosecute, thus strengthening the rule of law at the national level. The new role granted to victims by the Rome Statute is key to the ICC´s successful fulfilment of these functions. This new book of essays, which includes the author's unpublished inaugural lecture at Utrecht University, examines these issues and places particular emphasis on the additional preventative mandate of the ICC, the ICC complementarity regime, the new role granted to victims, and the prosecution of the highest leadership through the notion of indirect perpetration. 'The work of Professor Olasolo breaks new ground in the academic field of international criminal law, as an analysis of the system as a whole. I therefore wish to express my congratulations for this work.'From the Foreword by Luis Moreno Ocampo Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, 27 April 2011'[Professor Hector Olasolo's] compilation provides an enormous source of easy reference to students, academia and legal actors in the field of international law. A look at the titles compiled in this volume demonstrates the present challenges to international criminal justice'.From the Preliminary Reflections by Elizabeth Odio Benito Judge and Former Vice-President, International Criminal Court, The Hague, May 2011'This collection, written by a brilliant and prolific scholar and practitioner of international criminal justice, is an insightful and important contribution to the existing literature…Each chapter in this collection is copiously footnoted and thoroughly researched, making it an important reference tool for scholars and practitioners in the field. Additionally and importantly, the chapters explore, without polemic, areas of controversy and dissent and thoughtfully and scrupulously set forth arguments for and against particular doctrinal choices.'From the Introduction by Leila Nadya SadatHenry H Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director, Whitney R Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law; Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, Spring 2011

As shown by the trials of Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor and Saddam Hussein, the large-scale and systematic commission of international crimes is usually planned and set in motion by senior political and military leaders. Nevertheless, the application of traditional forms of criminal liability leads to the conclusion that they are mere accessories to such crimes. This does not reflect their central role and often results in a punishment which is inappropriately low in view of the impact of their actions and omissions. For these reasons, international criminal law has placed special emphasis on the development of concepts, such as control of the crime and joint criminal enterprise (also known as the common purpose doctrine), which aim at reflecting better the central role played by senior political and military leaders in campaigns of large scale and systematic commission of international crimes. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the case law of the ICTY and the ICTR have, in recent years, played a unique role in the achievement of this goal.

Crimes of atrocity have profound and long-lasting effects on any society. The difference between triggering and preventing these tragic crimes often amounts to the choice between national potential preserved or destroyed. It is also important to recognise that they are not inevitable: the commission of these crimes requires a collective effort, an organisational context, and long planning and preparation. Thus, the idea of strengthening preventative action has taken on greater relevance, and is now encompassed in the emerging notion of ''responsibility to prevent''. International courts and tribunals contribute to this effort by ending impunity for past crimes. Focusing investigations and prosecution on the highest leadership maximises the impact of this contribution. The ICC has an additional preventative mandate which is fulfilled by its timely intervention in the form of preliminary examinations. Moreover, when situations of atrocity crimes are triggered, its complementarity regime incentivises states to stop violence and comply with their duties to investigate and prosecute, thus strengthening the rule of law at the national level. The new role granted to victims by the Rome Statute is key to the ICC´s successful fulfilment of these functions. This new book of essays, which includes the author''s unpublished inaugural lecture at Utrecht University, examines these issues and places particular emphasis on the additional preventative mandate of the ICC, the ICC complementarity regime, the new role granted to victims, and the prosecution of the highest leadership through the notion of indirect perpetration. ''The work of Professor Olasolo breaks new ground in the academic field of international criminal law, as an analysis of the system as a whole. I therefore wish to express my congratulations for this work.''From the Foreword by Luis Moreno Ocampo Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, 27 April 2011''[Professor Hector Olasolo''s] compilation provides an enormous source of easy reference to students, academia and legal actors in the field of international law. A look at the titles compiled in this volume demonstrates the present challenges to international criminal justice''.From the Preliminary Reflections by Elizabeth Odio Benito Judge and Former Vice-President, International Criminal Court, The Hague, May 2011''This collection, written by a brilliant and prolific scholar and practitioner of international criminal justice, is an insightful and important contribution to the existing literature…Each chapter in this collection is copiously footnoted and thoroughly researched, making it an important reference tool for scholars and practitioners in the field. Additionally and importantly, the chapters explore, without polemic, areas of controversy and dissent and thoughtfully and scrupulously set forth arguments for and against particular doctrinal choices.''From the Introduction by Leila Nadya SadatHenry H Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director, Whitney R Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law; Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, Spring 2011

Crimes of atrocity have profound and long-lasting effects on any society. The difference between triggering and preventing these tragic crimes often amounts to the choice between national potential preserved or destroyed. It is also important to recognise that they are not inevitable: the commission of these crimes requires a collective effort, an organisational context, and long planning and preparation. Thus, the idea of strengthening preventative action has taken on greater relevance, and is now encompassed in the emerging notion of ''responsibility to prevent''. International courts and tribunals contribute to this effort by ending impunity for past crimes. Focusing investigations and prosecution on the highest leadership maximises the impact of this contribution. The ICC has an additional preventative mandate which is fulfilled by its timely intervention in the form of preliminary examinations. Moreover, when situations of atrocity crimes are triggered, its complementarity regime incentivises states to stop violence and comply with their duties to investigate and prosecute, thus strengthening the rule of law at the national level. The new role granted to victims by the Rome Statute is key to the ICC´s successful fulfilment of these functions. This new book of essays, which includes the author''s unpublished inaugural lecture at Utrecht University, examines these issues and places particular emphasis on the additional preventative mandate of the ICC, the ICC complementarity regime, the new role granted to victims, and the prosecution of the highest leadership through the notion of indirect perpetration. ''The work of Professor Olasolo breaks new ground in the academic field of international criminal law, as an analysis of the system as a whole. I therefore wish to express my congratulations for this work.''From the Foreword by Luis Moreno Ocampo Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, 27 April 2011''[Professor Hector Olasolo''s] compilation provides an enormous source of easy reference to students, academia and legal actors in the field of international law. A look at the titles compiled in this volume demonstrates the present challenges to international criminal justice''.From the Preliminary Reflections by Elizabeth Odio Benito Judge and Former Vice-President, International Criminal Court, The Hague, May 2011''This collection, written by a brilliant and prolific scholar and practitioner of international criminal justice, is an insightful and important contribution to the existing literature…Each chapter in this collection is copiously footnoted and thoroughly researched, making it an important reference tool for scholars and practitioners in the field. Additionally and importantly, the chapters explore, without polemic, areas of controversy and dissent and thoughtfully and scrupulously set forth arguments for and against particular doctrinal choices.''From the Introduction by Leila Nadya SadatHenry H Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director, Whitney R Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law; Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, Spring 2011

As shown by the trials of Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor and Saddam Hussein, the large-scale and systematic commission of international crimes is usually planned and set in motion by senior political and military leaders. Nevertheless, the application of traditional forms of criminal liability leads to the conclusion that they are mere accessories to such crimes. This does not reflect their central role and often results in a punishment which is inappropriately low in view of the impact of their actions and omissions. For these reasons, international criminal law has placed special emphasis on the development of concepts, such as control of the crime and joint criminal enterprise (also known as the common purpose doctrine), which aim at reflecting better the central role played by senior political and military leaders in campaigns of large scale and systematic commission of international crimes. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the case law of the ICTY and the ICTR have, in recent years, played a unique role in the achievement of this goal.Hector Olasolo's book is indispensible to anyone interested in bringing top leaders, political or military, to account for their complicity in crimes. A.G. Noorani Frontline September 2009

Death and destruction are unavoidable effects of war and combat situations. The fact that people have been killed or injured or property has been destroyed should not encourage anyone to rush to the conclusion that war crimes have been committed. On the contrary, before reaching such a conclusion, it is necessary to carefully analyze the conduct of the person causing death, injury or damage in order to ascertain whether such conduct is consistent with international humanitarian law. Technology, law and public opinion on what is acceptable has greatly evolved since World War II. The issue of civilian damage caused in combat operations has become an important topic in public opinion since Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Public pressure to limit incidental civilian damage has notably increased following the NATO aerial campaign in Kosovo in 1999 and the subsequent conflicts in Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and Lebanon 2006. Unlawful Attacks in Combat Situations focuses on the manner in which unlawful attacks launched during the conduct of hostilities have been dealt with in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the international treaty which, to date, deals most comprehensively with war crimes committed in international and non-international armed conflicts, and in the case law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the first international judicial body that has investigated and prosecuted crimes committed during the conduct of hostilities since World War II.

Parties negotiating the end of authoritarian regimes or armed conflicts are almost inevitably left in a situation of legal uncertainty. Despite their overlapping scope of application, the differences between the approaches of International Criminal Law (ICL) and Transitional Justice (TJ) are so profound that, unless dogmatisms are left aside and a process of dialogue is entered into, it will not be possible to harmonize the current legal regime of international crimes with the need to articulate transitional processes that are capable of effectively overcoming authoritarian regimes and armed conflicts. The serious material limitations shown by national, international and hybrid ICL enforcement mechanisms should be acknowledged and the goals pursued by ICL should be redefined accordingly. A minimum level of consensus on the scope of application, goals and elements of TJ should also be reached. Situations of systematic or large scale violence against the civilian population by transnational criminal organizations increase the challenge.

The Rome Statute, unlike the statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, creates a permanent court whose dormant jurisdiction covers the territory and includes the nationals of States Parties and is universal in cases where the Security Council makes a referral. Besides, unlike the "e;ad hoc"e; tribunals, which have jurisdiction over specific crisis situations whose personal, territorial and temporal parameters have been defined in their respective statutes by the UN Security Council, in the case of the ICC it is not possible to determine a priori in which situations the ICC will be involved. As a result, the most relevant activity of the Court is the determination of those situations regarding which the dormant jurisdiction of the Court will be triggered. The book The Triggering Procedure of the International Criminal Court constitutes the first comprehensive analysis of the proceedings that, prior to any criminal investigation, aim to make such a fundamental determination.

Este libro, sobre mecanismos alternativos de solución de conflictos (MASC), es el resultado del trabajo colaborativo de varios de los profesores y los estudiantes que participaron del seminario del Doctorado en Derecho de la Universidad del Rosario que se llevó a cabo en 2021, cuyas reflexiones académicas gravitaron sobre el desarrollo y los límites que han tenido los instrumentos creados con el propósito de resolver las tensiones generadas por las controversias que se suscitan en el seno de las sociedades contemporáneas ante la incapacidad de la justicia institucional para resolverlas oportunamente. En la obra se integran contribuciones que abordan la temática de los MASC en la esfera del derecho nacional, tanto desde la perspectiva genérica de la figura como de su despliegue en los campos laboral, administrativo y ambiental, y en el ámbito internacional en relación con la protección de la persona humana como sujeto de derecho internacional y con el papel de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC) como solucionador de disputas a esa escala; adicionalmente, se presentan contribuciones particulares sobre dos de las MASC, como son el arbitraje aplicado a la contratación pública colombiana y la sistematización de la dogmática constitucional sobre la amigable composición.