Since the birth of international criminal courts and tribunals, persons convicted of international crimes have long enjoyed a presumption of early release after serving two-thirds of their sentence. This presumption, however, is dying: concerns for post-conflict regional stability and evolving notions of rehabilitation in the international context have refashioned the law of early release, resulting in the development of a stringent framework weighing against release and the imposition of parole-like conditions for released persons.
This Note seeks to track the developing standards for early release in the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. It argues that the tribunal’s law of early release has developed in three primary phases: (i) an era of presumptive unconditional release; (ii) a transitory period of limited, calculated reform; and (iii) its present state, a rejection of the two-thirds presumption. This piece is significant because it highlights a development in an area of the law that has remained unchanged for over half a century; further, it evaluates the evolving definition and role of rehabilitation in the international criminal law context.
To read this Note, please click here: The Death of Presumptive Unconditional Release: Evaluating the Developing Standards for Early Release in the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
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