Fraudulent Evidence Before Public International Tribunals The Dirty Stories Of International Law

"Domestic lawyers are, above all, officers of the court. By contrast, the public international lawyer representing states before international tribunals is torn between loyalties to the state and loyalties to international law. As the stakes increase for the state concerned, the tension between these loyalties can become acute and lead to practices that would be condemned in developed national legal systems but have hitherto been ignored by international tribunals in international legal scholarship. They are the 'dirty stories' of international law. This detailed and contextually sensitive presentation of eight important cases before a variety of public international tribunals dissects some of the reasons for the resort to fraudulent evidence in international litigation and the profession's baffling reaction. Fraudulent evidence is resorted to out of greed, moral mediocrity or inherent dishonesty. In public international litigation, by contrast, the reasons are often more complex, with roots in the dynamics of international politics"-- "In "Dirty Story," Eric Ambler's celebrated roman noir, the British Vice-consul in Athens pronounces judgment on one Arthur Abdel Simpson: "You're a disgusting creature, Mr. Simpson. Your life is nothing but a long dirty story." In fact, Simpson, struggling on the margins of society, is, at his worst, a petty criminal; the Vice-Consul's contempt derives in no small measure from a rap sheet that contains no great crimes, no memorable violations, only a serialization of sleazy misdeeds"--

Year

2014

Language

English

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Editions

1

Pages

222

ISBN

9781107063396

Data source: Wikidata