Domestic Courts

​The fourth day of the course “National Courts and the International Role of Law” was concluded with a lecture titled “The Role of Domestic Courts in International Criminal Law and UN Sanctions Implementation.
 
The lecture was delivered by Prof. Larissa van den Herik, who reviewed the posture of Dutch Legal system towards universal jurisdiction.
 
After a short summary of the Dutch jurisprudence on the prosecution of international crimes, Ms. van den Herik counted some examples of civil litigation cases brought to the Courts of the Netherlands in relation to crimes committed during the colonial times.
 
Ms. van den Herik concluded her speech with reviewing the domestic implementation of international sanctions.

Participants of the course “National courts and the International Rule of Law” received their last lecture today from professor John Dugard, who glanced upon the approach of South Africa towards International Law before and after the Apartheid regime.
 
Dr.Dugard compared the hostile position of the South African courts towards international law before 1994 to what he called its “too much friendly” approach today and illustrated examples of cases where this pro-international law approach has provoked some tensions between the government and the courts.