Fair Treatment Standards in Transnational and International Criminal Law: International Developments and National Relevance

Abstract

This essay examines fair treatment developments undertaken at the international level in transnational and international criminal law, with the aim of analysing how national actors should approach these developments. It argues for national actors to engage more closely with these fair treatment standards, and suggests how they can decide what standards are binding and how they should be implemented by the careful analysis of the norm’s juridical status and the development of a principled margin of discretion. It explains how these fair treatment standards, even when not binding in nature, can be of important interpretive value for national actors, and how it is important for national actors to engage with these developments and participate in the making of international law.