The Impact of International Human Rights Law on International Criminal Procedure = De invloed van internationale mensenrechten op internationaal strafprocesrecht

This article examines the impact of international human rights law on international criminal procedure. Given the fact that international criminal courts and tribunals (ICTs) are not party to human rights treaties, the question arises whether these norms formally even apply to them. The first part of the article therefore addresses whether ICTs are bound by human rights by virtue of international law, and what concrete consequences this might have. As will be seen, international law fails to provide definitive answers to questions regarding which sources of international human rights law bind the ICTs, and how human rights norms are supposed to operate in the context of an international criminal trial. As a result, it is difficult to establish concrete tools to determine the scope and content of the human rights obligations of ICTs. The second part of this article therefore investigates whether the internal law of the tribunals fills this gap and clarifies the impact of international human rights law on the law and practice of the ICTs. Finally, the article will identify and discuss the prevalent approaches of the ICTs towards the interpretation and application of concrete international human rights norms.