Rome Statutes of the ICC - Article 64: Functions and powers of the Trial Chamber

Article 64: Functions and powers of the Trial Chamber

The functions and powers of the Trial Chamber set out in this article shall be exercised in accordance with this Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

The Trial Chamber shall ensure that a trial is fair and expeditious and is conducted with full respect for the rights of the accused and due regard for the protection of victims and witnesses.

Upon assignment of a case for trial in accordance with this Statute, the Trial Chamber assigned to deal with the case shall:

 - Confer with the parties and adopt such procedures as are necessary to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings;

 - Determine the language or languages to be used at trial; and

 - Subject to any other relevant provisions of this Statute, provide for disclosure of documents or information not previously disclosed, sufficiently in advance of the commencement or the trial to enable adequate preparation for trial.

The Trial Chamber may, if necessary for its effective and fair functioning, refer preliminary issues to the available judge of the Pre-Trial Division.  

Upon notice to the parties, the Trial Chamber may, as appropriate, direct that there be rejoinder or severance in respect of charges against more than one accused. 

In performing its functions prior to trial or during the course of a trial, the Trial Chamber may, as necessary:

Exercise any functions of the Pre-Trial Chamber referred to in article 61, paragraph 11:

Require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and production of documents and other evidence by obtaining, if necessary, the assistance of States as provided in this Statute;

Provide for the protection of confidential information;

Order the production of evidence in addition to that already collected prior to the trial or presented during the trial by the parties;
Provide for the protection of the accused, witnesses and victims; and
Rule on any other relevant matters.
The trial shall be held in public. The Trial Chamber may, however, determine that special circumstances require that certain proceedings be in closed session for the purposes set forth in article 68, or to protect confidential or sensitive information to be given in evidence.
(a) At the commencement of the trial, the Trial Chamber shall satisfy itself that the accused understands the nature of the charges. It shall admission of the guilt in accordance with article 65 or to plead to guilty.
At the trial, the presiding judge nay give directions for the conduct of proceedings, including to ensure that they are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. Subject to any directions of the presiding judge, the parties may submit evidence in accordance with the provisions of this Statue.
The Trial Chamber shall have , inter alia, the power on application of a party or on its own motion to:
Rule on the admissibility or relevance of evidence; and
Take all necessary steps to maintain order in the course of a hearing.
The Trial Chamber shall ensure that a complete record of the trial which accurately reflects the proceedings, is made and that is maintained and preserved by the Registrar.

Rome Statutes of the ICC: Part 6 THE TRIAL - Article 62: Place of Trial and Article 63: Trial in the presence of the accused

 Rome Statutes of the ICC: Part 6 THE TRIAL

Article 62: Place of Trial 

Unless otherwise decided, the place of the trial shall be the seat of the Court.

 Article 63: Trial in the presence of the accused 

The accused shall be present during the trial.

If the accused, being present before the Court, continues to disrupt the trial, the Trial Chamber may remove the accused and shall make provision for him or her to observe the trial and instruct counsel from outside the courtroom, through the use of communications technology,  if required.

Such measures shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances after other reasonable alternatives have proved inadequate, and only for such duration as is strictly required.

Rome Statutes of the ICC - Article 61: Confirmation of the charges before trial

Article 61:  Confirmation of the charges before trial

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, within a reasonable time after the person's surrender or voluntary appearance before the Court, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall hold a hearing to confirm the charges on which the Prosecutor intends to confirm the charges on which the Prosecutor intends to seek trial.  The hearing shall be held in the presence of the Prosecutor and the person charged, as well as his or her counsel.

The Pre-Trial Chamber may, upon request of the Prosecutor or on its own motion, hold a hearing in the absence of the person charged to confirm the charges on which the Prosecutor intends to seek trial when the person has:

 - Waived his or her right to be present; or

 - Fled or cannot be found and all reasonable steps have been taken to secure his or her appearance before the Court and to inform the person of the charges and that a hearing to confirm those charges will be held.

In that case, the person shall be represented by counsel where the Pre-Trial Chamber determines that it is within the interests of justice.

Within a reasonable time before the hearing, the person shall:

 -- Be provided with a copy of the document containing the charges on which the Prosecutor intends to bring the person to trial; and

 - Be informed of the evidence on which the Prosecutor intends to rely at the hearing.

The Pre-Trial Chamber may issue orders regarding the disclosure of information for the purposes of the hearing.

Before the hearing, the Prosecutor may continue the investigation and may amend or withdraw any charges.  The person shall be given reasonable notice before the hearing of any amendment to or withdrawal of charges.  In case of a withdrawal of charges, the Prosecutor shall notify the Pre-Trial Chamber of the reasons for the withdrawal.

At the hearing, the Prosecutor shall support each charge with sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed the crime charged.  The Prosecutor may rely on documentary or summary evidence and need not call the witnesses expected to testify at the trial.

At the hearing, the person may:

 - Object to the charges; 

 - Challenge the evidence presented by the Prosecutor; and

 - Present evidence

The Pre-Trial Chamber shall, on the basis of the hearing, determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged.  

Based on its determination, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall:

 - Confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is sufficient evidence, and commit the person to a Trial Chamber for trial on the charges as confirmed;

 - Decline to confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is insufficient evidence;

 - Adjourn the hearing and request the Prosecutor to consider:

 - (i) Providing further evidence or conducting further investigation with respect to a particular charge;  or

 - (ii) Amending a charge because the evidence submitted appears to establish a different crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Where the Pre-Trial Chamber declines to confirm a charge, the Prosecutor shall not be precluded from subsequently requesting its confirmation if the request is supported by additional evidence.  

After the charges are confirmed and before the trial has begun, the Prosecutor may, with the permission of the Pre-Trial Chamber and after notice to the accused, amend the charges.  If the Prosecutor seeks serious charges, a hearing under this article to confirm those charges must be held.  After commencement of the trial, the Prosecutor may, with the permission of the Trial Chamber, withdraw the charges.

Any warrant previously issued shall cease to have effect with respect to any charges which have not been confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber of which have been withdrawn by the Prosecutor.

Once the charges have been confirmed in accordance with this article, the Presidency shall constitute a Trial Chamber which, subject to paragraph 8 and to article 64, paragraph 4, shall be responsible for the conduct of subsequent proceedings and may exercise any function of the Pre-Trial Chamber that is relevant and capable of application in those proceedings.

Rome Statutes of the ICC - Article 60: Initial proceedings before the Court

 Article 60:  Initial proceedings before the Court

Upon the surrender of the person to the Court, or the person's appearance before the Court voluntarily or pursuant to a summons, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall satisfy itself that the person has been informed of the crimes which he or she is alleged to have committed, and of his or her rights under this Statute, including the right to apply for interim release pending trial.

A person subject to a warrant of arrest may apply for interim release pending trial.  If the Pre-Trial Chamber is satisfied that the conditions set forth in article 58, paragraph 1, are met, the person shall continue to be detained.  If it is not so satisfied, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall release the person, with or without conditions.

The Pre-Trial Chamber shall periodically review its ruling on the release or detention of the person, and may do so at any time on the request of the Prosecutor or the person.  Upon such review, it may modify its ruling as to detention, release or conditions of release, if it is satisfied that changed circumstances so require.

The Pre-Trial Chamber shall ensure that a person is not detained for an unreasonable period prior to trial due to inexcusable delay by the Prosecutor.  If such delay occurs, the Court shall consider releasing the person, with or without conditions.

If necessary, the Pre-Trial Chamber may issue a warrant of arrest to secure the presence of a person who has been released. 

Have You Ever Heard of a Cemented Riverbed?

Wailuku River is a naturally flowing river.  It has been flowing just fine for thousands of year before current day development and the over extension of tourism wreaked havoc on the foundations of our island.  Never has there been an issue as to how nature balanced itself until mankind destroyed it, and once again mankind returns to bring upon the total destruction of the river.

If you live or have visited Maui, it is likely that you visited the sacred 'Iao Valley and Kepaniwai Gardens.  It has been eternally changed in form and thanks to the many community members who have gone out there to restore the flow, it is recovering from last year's collapse.  But none of this was able to be done before Mayor Alan Arakawa decided to remove and crush the rocks that belong there.  The de facto authorities made sure nobody could go in the valley until the desecration was complete.

Now there is a company from America who has come here to cement much of the river walls headed down towards Nehe Point, claiming that they are going to do this for the safety of surrounding areas.  Do you know what this means for the natural flow of life?

This means that excess sediment from erosion is going to flow directly into the ocean, killing nearby limu, coral and fish populations.  It brings an increased danger to locals who enjoy the ocean, for they will not be able to see underwater dangers in the area.  It means murky water and sea levels rising in the area.  It means that everything in the general area is going to be further endangered.

Please feel free to contact Mayor Arakawa at this email address to ask him to stop this mess. You may also call his office at 808-270-7855.  

Personal Food Banks

Hui!!!! Are you growing your own food yet?  Well, we don't have to tell you what's going on in the world, you already know that.  But have you ever thought about how growing food can save you money on your lawn care?  Check this out:  We priced the average lawn care costs and not too many of us really use lawn care providers, aside from kupuna whose families won't cut their grass.  Most of us don't think about it.  Its just a matter of gas and a dry afternoon, right?  

A decent lawn mower can cosyou into the thousands.  For a good ride-on, you can spend the same money buying an island cruiser.  Then you need to be able to maintain that machinery, buy parts as needed, get a gas can and oil, gas - if you plan to cut soon, and last but not least - good weather to coincide with your schedule and energy level.  Now that's not asking a whole lot if you can swing it, but for some of us with tight schedules, that can add up.  

Aside from needing to be cut and in some cases watered,  what do you benefit from having a lawn?  Perhaps people being able to look at your house? 

Now what if you had some really neat planters around (to prevent invasive growth issues) and had a different food in each planter?  Would that cost any more than a lawn?  Well let's see how this could easily fare out...

Seeds and starters are free, if you eat fruit & vegetables.  Every time I cut open a bell pepper, I have enough seeds to grow a pepper garden.  It was free seeds.  I eat organic, so it was free organic seeds for my household.  A bag of starter soil is like $8.  I didn't have any planters, but I had plenty of paper bags and a few scrap tires laying around.  

After giving the tires a good wash, I stacked 2 of the tires to make the pepper garden high enough for me to easily reach.  Then I put a few paper bags on the bottom.  You know all those annoying cuttings from your last lawn care day?  Well it makes great mulch and filler, so I brought that over.  If you save your compost, bring that free soil replenisher too.  The combination of the mulch & paper bags will pH balance the compost just nice.  So you will want to layer those on top the paper bags inside the center of the tires.   Put one more paper bag on top and fill the top with soil.  Plant your seeds.  Voila!  You have just transformed 2 sq. ft. of lawn mowing into free food.  Now if you do the same thing, all down the row with a different vegetable that you eat, you will have a whole row of tires that takes up for a row of cutting.

If you get inspired to continue, you can do the same for your ginger, carrots, potatoes, strawberries, onions, garlic, chives, green onions, chard, tomatoes, chili peppers, and the list goes on.  You can make rows and use the pretty stuff for the front, or grow some kind of hedge in the front.  By the time you finish picking up free tires on the roadside to complete your garden, and gotten food back from your garden, here's a list of what you actually did:

1. You cleaned in the community
2. You recycled tires
3. You may have had to buy some soil to start the garden, but you have saved on gas and the environment in the long term,  by not running your lawn mower
4. You infinitely save on your grocery bill.  If you are also a vegetarian or hunter, you pretty much don't have a grocery bill
5. You taught your kids, family and community how its done and possible inspired a whole community initiative, providing that you actually don't mind being some kind of leader or agent of change.  People really perceive gardens to be hard and they aren't any harder than cutting the lawn or sweeping the pavement.

Now if you currently have a chicken problem, you can buy chicken wire at about $50 per roll.  If you were to frame a layer of chicken wire to a 2 ft tall shelf, as long as you want to make it.   Use that as sort of a property line border, in placement.  It will need to be about 3-4 ft into your property though.  Food will be growing on top of the chicken wire.   On the outside of the chicken wire, plant lilikoi.  If you are good with building chicken wire foundations, you can even build a second layer, another 2 ft above the first layer, like a 2 story chicken house.  Until the chickens get trained to go there, throw your excess seeds in there.  For the 2nd floor of the coop,  put a layer of ti leaf or something.  Then put seeds or chicken feed up there.  This will train them to view that area as a safe place to live - away from your house.  They make great watch dogs too because if anything near them happens, they will cackle.  Check for free eggs every morning while laying some seed to keep them over there.  For a $50 roll of chicken wire and some free lilikoi seeds, you have free lilikoi and eggs forever - or as long as it lasts at your place.

You pretty much have a fully functional farm for pennies a day, for one year.  If you are broke like me, this might take a year to complete - going one Saturday at a time.  But by the following year, you will have saved:

1. the climate, by growing more plants, not grass
2. your grocery bill, with the bounty of your harvest
3. your family from too much heat in the summer
4. your lawn care, maintenance on machinery and time
5. teaching those around you how its done

 

Bright Smiles Initiative Moves into Bigger Arenas & Includes You

Here is one update you all have been waiting for:

Much of 2017 various organizations have come together and worked throughout different communities, to gather the Voice of the People in regards to dental disparities that we deal with daily.  So many of us have issues to be dealt with in our mouths and let the truth be told, dental issues are the root indicator of future health problems.   This is one of many reasons we went on the "Smile Crusade" to get us all some help.  

So back in September, we shared updates before and after the conference at the Kinau Hale.   We shared with you that we were sharing all of our combined demographics as well as exploring some options with each organization present, which also included the Department of Public Health and Welfare.  They were all equally concerned and wanting to be a part of the solution - at least the representatives who came, were.  Big ups to Gavin Uchida, who is determined to make solutions happen.

However, some communities saw the surveys as a waste of time, claiming that promises are never followed through.  Some did not trust answering anonymous questions on a survey, feeling that sharing their mana'o would somehow steal their mana.  We heard some other complaints of that kind and that's okay.  We shared your concerns, as we should share the honest Voice of the People, and they heard your Voice - our Voices.

After months of compiling data from each island as well as representing the islands that we were unable to get information returned from,  we were able to assure that the smaller islands were able to be put on the list, not ignored, and we were able to compile the mixed demographics from each moku and what we found was astounding... well, to those who don't know financial poverty like some of us do.

Although we are strategically planning on our levels to prepare for the ultimate avocation of your Voice and concerns, we were able to get a schedule to come talk to the communities directly.    You will have to register to have a seat held for you on your island, because the money we were given to be able to handle these matters isn't enough to spend a whole lot on empty space.  We want to save enough at the end to be able to actually do something about the issues we face.  However, we were able to schedule one meeting on each island so far.  Some areas may see a localized meeting pop up, if the numbers from their moku is high enough.  

Please share this post with the information, and if you wish to learn more and register to attend, click here to attend the Oral Health Strategic Planning Session on your island