Dr Noelle Higgins has authored a book entitled Cultural Defences at the International Criminal Court, published by Routledge (2018). Cultural defences, i.e. claims that certain aspects of a defendant’s cultural background should be taken into consideration by courts when adjudicating on their guilt or innocence, have been raised before domestic courts in a variety of jurisdictions. This has been a very sensitive and controversial issue. However, the issue of cultural defences at international tribunals is one that has not yet been fully explored. The main objective of this book is to analyse if the International Criminal Court can, and should, accommodate cultural defences as answers to legal charges, or if the Court should accommodate cultural considerations in other ways.
Dr Higgins teaches international criminal law, and other international law modules, on the postgraduate programmes offered by the Department of Law at Maynooth University. Further information on the book is available here.