Journal of International Criminal Justice Advance Access originally published online on January 17, 2006
Journal of International Criminal Justice 2006 4(1):47-63; doi:10.1093/jicj/mqi097
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Assisting an Accused to Represent Himself
Appointment of Amici Curiae as the Most Appropriate Option
* The author is writing a Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam on the position of the defence within the international criminal justice system. The use of the male pronoun in this article is for convenience only.
[J.P.W.TemminckTuinstra{at}uva.nl]
Given the proportion and complexity of international criminal proceedings, allowing an accused to represent himself before an international criminal court might render his defence ineffective, even if the accused is a lawyer himself. If international criminal courts are not willing to have the accused bear the consequences of his choice of self-representation, the measure of appointing experienced Defence Counsel as amici curiae to make legal contributions to add to the Judges’ informed decisions seems to entail fewer undesirable ethical consequences for counsel than being added as ‘standby counsel’ or ‘court assigned counsel’. Through occupying a neutral position and not being required to represent the accused, the amici's input may balance the flow of defence and prosecution arguments and thus contribute to the fairness of international criminal trials. The measure of appointing standby counsel or court assigned counsel to an accused who wishes to represent himself appears less appropriate, especially from a legal professional perspective.