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ICC to resume Lubanga trial after agreement to release evidence

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday lifted a suspension imposed on the trial of Congolese ex-militia leader Thomas Lubanga after prosecutors in the case agreed to share as-yet undisclosed evidence with the court. In June, the ICC had imposed an indefinite stay on Lubanga's war crimes trial after accusing the prosecution of using confidentiality agreements as an excuse for withholding possibly exculpatory evidence. The court subsequently ordered Lubanga's release but later stayed that decision. After reviewing the documents, the court stated on Tuesday that it is no longer concerned that the information could be used in Lubanga's defense, and added that it would later issue a written decision to explain its reasoning in full. The court also denied a pending request for Lubanga's release in light of the developments. Lubanga's trial is now tentatively scheduled to begin on January 26, 2009. Once the leader of the Union of Patriotic Congolese, Lubanga is charged with using child soldiers in his militia, which is believed to have committed large-scale human rights abuses in Congo's violent Ituri district. He became the first war crimes defendant to appear before the ICC after he was taken into custody in March 2006. Lubanga's long-delayed trial is scheduled to be the ICC's first since its creation in 2002.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on November 18, 2008 (boomark / email).