Course Details

Collective Responsibility in Tort and Criminal Law
#6706

Type

SEM

Credits Desc.

2 cr.

Credits Def. Value

2 cr.

Prerequisites

Recommended, background in crim law, & public int'l law though not essential

Senior Writing?

(not listed)

Student Year

2L/3L

When Offered

(not listed)

Description:

Collective Responsibility in Tort and Criminal Law: A Comparative Perspective

When can we hold who accountable and for what — This question is of central importance in the discourse of criminal law as well as tort law. The difficult task of answering it takes on an added dimension in cases of collective harms, which are typically perpetrated by a collective or group entity unto individuals who are also part of a collective. This course will concentrate on accountability for cases of collective and mass atrocity and the mechanisms for attributing responsibility, in crime as well as in tort, to the alleged perpetrators of these atrocities.

The modern law of torts and crime considers the individual as the paradigm unit of action as well as bearer of responsibility. This assumption comes under considerable strain in cases of mass atrocity where the entity sought to be held responsible is either a collective as in the case of tortious liability of corporations, or the individual as part of a collective, which is the typical scenario in international crimes such as genocide. We will analyse issues of collective and individual responsibility in tort and crime through an examination of select debates in law and philosophy, comparative and international criminal law, public international law, and the law of torts.

The specific areas covered in this course will include: law and philosophy literature on individual and collective intentions; the structure and basis of criminal responsibility in the common law and the civil law; accomplice and conspiracy liability in domestic jurisdictions; developments in international criminal law on joint criminal enterprise and co-perpetration; recent litigation under the Alien Torts Statute in the US and comparable cases elsewhere on the possibility of corporate tortious responsibility for severe human rights violations. Recommended: Background knowledge in criminal law, tort law and public international law, though not essential, will be helpful.
show all

Sections

Fall 2012: Collective Responsibility in Tort and Criminal Law

show details

Type

SEM

Credits

2

Prerequisites

(none listed)

Senior Writing?

(not listed)

Student Year

2L/3L

Details:

(see course description, above)

Documents and Readings:

  • Access files on Inside.Law Access restricted resource icon
  • Syllabus
    Download:
    UMN-2012-JD-Seminar-outline.docx
  • Collective Responsibility (Lewis)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/3747383
    Citation: 1948, “Collective Responsibility”, Philosophy, 23: 3–18
    Author(s): Lewis, H.D.
  • Collective Responsibility (Naverson)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... .org/stable/25115724
    Citation: 2002, “Collective Responsibility,” Journal of Ethics, 6: 179–198
    Author(s): Narveson, Jan
  • Collective Responsibility (Cooper)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/3749817
    Citation: 1968, “Collective Responsibility,” Philosophy, 43: 258–268
    Author(s): Cooper, David
  • The Rationality of Collective Guilt
    Available Online: onlinelibrary.wiley.com... .30.issue-1/issuetoc
    Citation: 2006, “The Rationality of Collective Guilt”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XXX: 222–239
    Author(s): Tollefsen, Deborah
  • Collective Responsibility (Downie)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/3749967
    Citation: 1969, “Collective Responsibility”, Philosophy 44: 66–69
    Author(s): Downie, R. S.
  • Collective Moral Responsibility
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... .32.issue-4/issuetoc
    Citation: 2001, “Collective Moral Responsibility,” Journal of Social Philosophy, 32: 573–584.
    Author(s): Corlett, J. Angelo
  • Shared Intentions and Shared Responsibility
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... m+13%3A00-15%3A00+BS
    Citation: Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XXX: 115–144 (2006)
    Author(s): Sadler, Brook Jenkins
  • Who's to Blame? Collective Moral Responsibility and Its Implications for Group Members
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... +essential+maintenan
    Citation: Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XXX: 94–114 (2006)
    Author(s): Gilbert, Margaret
  • State Aggression, Collective Liability, and Individual Mens Rea
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... +essential+maintenan
    Citation: “State Aggression, Collective Liability, and Individual Mens Rea” Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XXX: 309–324 (2006)
    Author(s): May, Larry
  • What is It Like to Be a Group?
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... ct_S0265052509090098
    Citation: Social Philosophy and Policy, 26 (1): 212–226 (2009)
    Author(s): Sosa, David
  • Actions By Collectives
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/2214278
    Citation: Philosophical Perspectives, 3: 471–496 (1989)
    Author(s): Tuomela, Raimo
  • Morality and Collective Liability
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... jp6238068l18/?MUD=MP
    Citation: Journal of Value Inquiry, 20: 157–165 (1986)
    Author(s): McGary, Howard
  • Collective Responsibility (Feinberg)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/2024543
    Citation: Journal of Philosophy, 65: 674–688. (1968)
    Author(s): Feinberg, Joel
  • Can a Random Collection of Individuals be Responsible?
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/2024108
    Citation: Journal of Philosophy, 67: 471–481 (1970)
    Author(s): Held, Virginia
  • The Responsibility of "Random Collections"
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/2380175
    Citation: Ethics , Vol. 81, No. 4 (Jul., 1971), pp. 343-349
    Author(s): Bates, Stanley
  • Actions By Collectives
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... r.org/stable/2214278
    Citation: Philosophical Perspectives, 3: 471–496 (1989)
    Author(s): Tuomela, Raimo
  • Collective Responsibility and Duties to Respond
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... 3Dkeh%26AN%3D5004650
    Citation: Social Theory and Practice, 27: 455–471 (2001)
    Author(s): Radzik, Linda
  • Collective Responsibility (Narveson)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... 79%26issn%3D13824554
    Citation: Journal of Ethics, 6: 179–198 (2002)
    Author(s): Narveson, Jan
  • The Question of German Guilt
    Available Online: umnlib.oit.umn.edu... e=&sub_library=TINTE
    Citation: The Question of German Guilt, trans. by E.B. Ashton, New York: Capricorn.
    Author(s): Jaspers, Karl
  • The Fujimori Judgment: A President’s Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity as Indirect Perpetrator by Virtue of an Organized Power Apparatus
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... .org/content/9/1.toc
    Citation: Journal of International Criminal Justice (2011)
    Author(s): Kai Ambos
  • Prosecutor v Tadić, Judgment, Case No IT-94-1
    Available Online: www.icty.org... en/tad-aj990715e.pdf
    Citation: Case No IT-94-1, ICTY Appeals Chamber, 15 July 1999, paras 185-237
  • Prosecutor v Brdanin, Judgment, Case No. IT-99-36-T
    Available Online: www.icty.org... en/brd-tj040901e.pdf
    Citation: Case No. IT-99-36-T, ICTY Trial Chamber, 1 September 2004, paras 340-356.
  • Prosecutor v Brdanin, Judgment, Case No. IT-99-36-A
    Available Online: www.icty.org... n/brd-aj070403-e.pdf
    Citation: Prosecutor v Brdanin, Judgment, Case No. IT-99-36-A, ICTY Appeals Chamber, 3 April 2007, paras 363-432
  • Prosecutor v Milutinovic, Decision on Ojdanic’s Motion Challenging Jurisdiction, Case No. IT-05-87-PT
    Available Online: www.icty.org... c/tdec/en/060322.htm
    Citation: ICTY Trial Chamber, 22 March 2006, Separate Opinion of Judge Bonomy
  • Three Conceptual Problems with the Doctrine of Joint Criminal Enterprise
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... /content/5/1/69.full
    Citation: 5 J of Int’l Criminal Justice 69-90 (2007)
    Author(s): Jens Ohlin
  • Amicus Curiae concerning Criminal Case File No. 001/18-07-2007-ECCC/OCIJ (PTC 02) (27 October 2008)
    Available Online: www.lib.umn.edu... 253f576b6427384af092
    Citation: 20 Criminal Law Forum 353–388. (2009)
    Author(s): Kai Ambos
  • Guilty Associations: Joint Criminal Enterprise, Command Responsibility, and the Development of International Criminal Law
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: (2005) 93 California L Rev 75, 102-120, 132-146, 149-156, 159-169
    Author(s): Allison Danner and Jenny Martinez
  • Prosecutor v Stakic, Judgment, Case No. IT-97-24-T
    Available Online: www.icty.org... n/stak-tj030731e.pdf
    Citation: ICTY Trial Chamber, 31 July 2003, paras 409-443.
  • Prosecutor v Gacumbitsi, Judgment, Case No. ICTR-2001-64-A
    Available Online: www.unictr.org... t_appeals_070706.pdf
    Citation: ICTR Appeals Chamber, 7 July 2006, Separate Opinion of Judge Schomburg, paras 1-28.
  • The Judgment Against Fujimori for Human Rights Violations (translation)
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: (2010) 25 American University International Law Review 657, pages 802-820
  • Judgment on Human Rights Violations by Former Military Leaders, National Appeals Court (Criminal Division) for the Federal District of Buenos Aires, December 9, 1985
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: 26 International Legal Materials 317 (1987) pages 360-366
  • Reflections of the Treatment of the Notions of Control of the Crime and Joint Criminal Enterprise in the Stakić Appeal Judgement
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: (2007) 7 Int’l Crim L Rev 143-161
    Author(s): Héctor Olásolo
  • Prosecutor v Lubanga, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges, Case No. ICC-01/04-01/06
    Available Online: www.icc-cpi.int... B41-3F149BADB187.htm
    Citation: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, 29 January 2007, paras 317-410
  • The Prosecutor v Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges
    Available Online: www.icc-cpi.int... 65e0db0a33&lan=en-GB
    Citation: Case No. ICC-01/04-01/07, 30 September 2008, paras 468-539
  • On the Application of a Theory of Indirect Perpetration in Al Bashir: German Doctrine at the Hague?
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: (2008) 6 J of Int’l Criminal Justice 853
    Author(s): Florian Jessberger and Julia Geneuss
  • Why is the US Abdicating the Policing of Multinational Corporations to Europe?: Extraterritorialism, Sovereignty and the Alien Torts Statute
    Available Online: papers.ssrn.com... abstract_id=1956520
    Citation: 30(2) Berkeley Journal of International Law (2012)
  • Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: 542 U.S. 692 (2004) Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain et al.
  • Conceptualizing Complicity in Alien Tort Cases
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: 60 Hastings L.J. 61 (2008-2009) Conceptualizing Complicity in Alien Tort Cases
    Author(s): Keitner, Chimene I.
  • The Curious Case of Corporate Liability Under the Alien Tort Statute
    Available Online: HeinOnline (via Proxy)
    Citation: 51 VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 353 (2011)
    Author(s): Julian Ku