Something Completely Different!

And now for something completely different: actual legal issues!

I have been following the trial of Radovan Karadzic since he was arrested almost a year and half ago. International justice is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. This morning Karadzic refused to leave his jail cell to attend the first day of his trial, which means the trial can't go anywhere yet. He wants a few more months to prepare because he wants to defend himself.

What is with these war crimes suspects wanting to defend themselves?!?!? Is it just a delay tactic? Do they think they can teach themselves how to be effective defense lawyers while delaying their trial for a few years thus killing two birds with one stone? This article claims that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has three choices--appoint Karadzic a lawyer, drag him to court, or grant him extra time to prepare. I may be missing some key information here but isn't he in prison? Doesn't that mean he has to go where they tell him to go... because he's a prisoner? Even Charles Taylor eventually showed up, even if it was only to rant and rave about the illegitimacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. That trial is also starting up again today.

Reading up on this stuff after focusing on other areas for a while is getting me all excited about international criminal law again. I'm thinking... law school, maybe an LLM in International Public Law, practice domestic criminal law for a few years, do an internship at an international criminal court/tribunal, then maybe become a staff lawyer. Could be amazing. And as I understand it the ICC is bleeding staff because everyone thinks it's so poorly run. Having been unemployed and unemployable for as long as I have been makes you willing to put up with things other people would not be willing to put up with, just to have a paying job that is interesting.

Why am I applying to law school?

I understand that this is a common interview/application question. It's probably useful to address it a bit. I'm not saying this is the whole answer.

I guess the first thing to say is that I want to be a lawyer. I spoke to a lawyer once whose first bit of advice to me was, 'Don't go to law school if you don't want to be a lawyer.' I think it's good advice. A lot of people treat law school as a general degree. It's versatile, useful, trains you to use important skills. But I don't have the money or the time to get a degree that might come in handy some day. I want to be a lawyer, specifically a prosecutor.

Why am I interested in criminal law? I wrote my master's dissertation on prosecuting international crimes. This naturally lead me to the more realistic goal of domestic prosecutions. I think it has the right mix of what I like about the law: it enforces laws; it pursues justice (ostensibly); it has real goals which are achievable; each case has a distinct beginning and end point.

This is only a partial answer. More to follow.