Mary Beall ’14, a second-year law student at the University of Minnesota Law School was named the 2017 International Criminal Law Fellow. This summer, through a legal internship with the defense team at the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Mary is working on trial preparation for an international criminal trial and researching international legal norms and corporate human rights compliance in The Hague, Netherlands.
From the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center Facebook page:
Each year the Human Rights Center selects 1-2 top students to explore the work of advancing human rights through international tribunals. Mary Noel Beall is our 2017 International Criminal Law Fellow and she sent in this update about her exciting work in The Hague this summer:
“On May 30, 2013, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted Jovica Stanisic and Frenko Simatovic of all charges relating to their alleged participation in a joint criminal enterprise to murder, persecute, deport and forcibly transfer non-Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On December 9, 2015, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY quashed the Trial Chamber’s decision and ordered a retrial. The retrial, which commenced on June 13, 2017, at the United Nations Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunals (UN-MICT) raises serious res judicta (due process), ne bis in idem (double jeopardy), and finally concerns and has sparked fervent debates among academics and legal professionals (https://www.nytimes.com/.../serbia-war-crimes-hague-yugoslavia).
This summer, I am working with Mr. Stanisic’s defense counsel, analyzing witness statements, trail testimony, and disclosed exhibits in consideration of the arguments advance by the prosecutor. This work has advanced my understanding of the complexities of armed conflict, the nuances of history and has solidified my dedication to defending due process rights of accused individuals.
In addition to my trial work at the UN-MICT, I am working with Global Rights Compliance, LLP. GRC is an international legal partnership, working to enhance international humanitarian law and human rights law. My research projects for GRC have ranged from international environmental law to international humanitarian law.
I would like to thank the Human Rights Center for providing me with the professional and financial support necessary to pursue an internship that I never imagined would be possible.”
About Mary
Mary is the daughter of Sally and Ed Beall of Helena. She is a graduate of Capital High School and Carroll College. At Carroll, she majored in Women and Gender Studies. Mary was a public policy intern with the ACLU of Montana, served on the Montana Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission, and was the Assistant Legal Services Developer for Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services.