In July the court approved [JURIST report] the first payouts to Madoff's victims. Picard filed almost 60 lawsuits [JURIST report] for victims of Madoff's fraud in December 2010, including suits against JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. Judge Louis Stanton made Picard the trustee of Bernard L Madoff Securities, LLC in December 2008. Madoff was sentenced [JURIST report] in June 2009 to 150 years in prison for securities fraud stemming from his Ponzi scheme. He pleaded guilty [JURiST report] to 11 counts of securities fraud in March 2009.

The ICTY is currently preparing for the trial of former Serbian general and alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic [ICTY backgrounder, PDF; JURIST news archive], which was supposed to begin this month but has been further delayed [JURIST report] until May 14. During a hearing last month, Mladic accused the ICTY of being "biased" against Serbs [JURIST report] and a "puppet" of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) [official website]. Mladic faces charges [case background] of genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, political persecution, forcible transfer and deportations, cruel treatment, and the taking of peacekeepers as hostages committed by Bosnian Serb forces under his command during the Bosnian civil war. The ICTY had previously tried [JURIST news archive] former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] but ended that trial after his death [JURIST report] in custody in 2006.

Last month, the Open Society Justice Initiative [advocacy website] reported that the continuing dispute between Cambodia and the UN over the appointment of Kasper-Ansermet to the ECCC threatened the legitimacy of the court [JURIST report]. A week later, Dr. Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association (IBA) [official website], reported that the legitimacy of the ECCC had been undermined [JURIST report] and that criticism of the court's failure to meet international standards was necessary to promote international justice. In January, the UN [official website] refused to replace [JURIST report] Kasper-Ansermet, who was tasked with investigating two possible suspects believed to be involved in the deaths of around 1.7 million people, after Cambodia attempted to block him. ECCC judges have been criticized for allegedly failing to conduct impartial investigations. Cambodia has argued that the trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders is a Cambodian issue and should not be a matter of international concern.

In a similar case, Tibbals v. Carter [docket], the court will also decide on the "right to competence" in capital habeas cases. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found [opinion, PDF] that the district court did not abuse its discretion in conducting a competency hearing and finding Sean Carter incompetent. However, the Sixth Circuit did find that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing Carter's petition and prospectively tolling the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act statute of limitations indefinitely.

The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977 are among the principal IHL [International Humanitarian Law] instruments. Many of the specific rules included in these treaties form part of customary IHL and are thus binding on all parties to any type of armed conflict, including on armed groups. Violations of many of these rules can constitute war crimes. All of the principles and rules cited in this briefing are part of customary international law and are binding on all parties to an armed conflict.

Allegations of war crimes and human rights violations have been widespread during the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder]. Last month AI released a report [JURIST report] accusing the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website] in Libya of allowing the abuse and torture of supporters of former leader Gaddafi by unofficial militias. In January AI reported the recent deaths of several Libyan detainees who were apparently tortured while in custody [JURIST report]. The deaths came amid allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees accused of being pro-Gaddafi loyalists and fighters during the Libyan conflict last year. In October of last year AI alleged that Libyan forces arrested nearly 2,500 people who face ongoing torture and detainment [JURIST report] without formal charges. In September the NTC vowed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses after AI published a report [JURIST report] alleging that both sides of the Libya conflict are responsible for human rights abuses and warning the NTC to act quickly to investigate these allegations.