Hans Köchler Hans Köchler (born 18 October 1948) is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Na ...

's Lockerbie trial observer mission stemmed from the dispute between the United Kingdom, the United States, and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

concerning arrangements for the trial of two Libyans accused of causing the explosion of

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

over

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...

on 21 December 1988. The dispute was resolved on the basis of legally binding

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1192 UN Security Council Resolution 1192, adopted unanimously on 27 August 1998, after recalling resolutions 731 (1992), 748 (1992) and 883 (1993), the council welcomed an initiative to try two Libyan suspects accused of the bombing of Pan Am Flight ...

of 27 August 1998.

UN-nominated observers

UN Security Council resolution 1192 "welcomed" "the initiative for the trial of the two ibyanpersons charged with the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 ... before a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands" and "invited" the Secretary-General of the United Nations "to nominate international observers to attend the trial". By a letter dated 28 October 1997, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom had informed the Secretary-General "that the United Kingdom would welcome the presence of international observers from the United Nations at the trial of the suspects in the

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boe ...

". In a letter dated 25 April 2000, addressed to the President of the Security Council, Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

nominated five international observers, one each from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the

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, and jointly from the

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and the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

, and two from the International Progress Organization, a

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-based NGO in

consultative status The consultative status is a phrase whose use can be traced to the founding of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Soc ...

with the United Nations, among them the organisation's president,

, professor at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

, Austria.

Reports on the trial and appeal

was the only international observer to submit comprehensive reports on the Lockerbie trial and appeal proceedings to the

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

who, in turn, forwarded them to the Registrar of the

Scottish Court in the Netherlands The Scottish court in the Netherlands was a special sitting of the High Court of Justiciary set up under Scots law in a former United States Air Force base, Camp Zeist in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, for the trial of two Libyans charged with 270 ...

. Köchler's reports were highly critical of the proceedings and challenged the fairness and impartiality of the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...

. Their publication triggered a large-scale international debate, including in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

, about the politicisation of criminal trials in the context of

power politics Power politics is a theory in international relations which contends that distributions of power and national interests, or changes to those distributions, are fundamental causes of war and of system stability. The concept of power politics pro ...

. Köchler had characterised the initial trial verdict of 31 January 2001 (which had led to the acquittal of one of the two accused Libyans) as "inconsistent" and "arbitrary". On the day of the announcement of the appeal verdict (14 March 2002) he described the dismissal of the convicted Libyan national's appeal as a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".

Second Lockerbie appeal

Upon publication on 28 June 2007 of a summary of a report by the

Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act ...

, which took four years to review

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya , death_date = , death_place = Tripoli, Libya , cause = Prostate cancer , nationality = Libyan , race = Arab , g ...

's case and granted him leave for a second appeal against conviction, Köchler issued a statement in which he expressed surprise at the commission's focus and apparent bias in favour of the judicial establishment in Scotland: :"In giving exoneration to the police, prosecutors and forensic staff, I think they show their lack of independence. No officials to be blamed: simply a Maltese shopkeeper." He called for the full report of the

SCCRC The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1 ...

to be published, for a full and independent

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

into the Lockerbie bombing case and for the proceedings of the Court of Criminal Appeal to be witnessed by international observers. On 4 July 2007, Köchler wrote to Scottish first minister,

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

, British foreign secretary,

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of P ...

, home secretary,

Jacqui Smith Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and former Labour Party politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary from 2007 to 2009 ...

and minister for Africa, Asia and the UN,

Mark Malloch Brown George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown (born 16 September 1953) is a British diplomat, communications consultant, journalist and former politician serving as president of Open Society Foundations since 2021, having previously served as ...

, reiterating his call for a public inquiry into the Lockerbie case and insisting that UN-appointed legal experts (from countries other than the UK, US and

) should be involved in such an inquiry. In the June 2008 edition of the Scottish lawyers' magazine ''The Firm'', Köchler referred to the 'totalitarian' nature of the second Lockerbie appeal process saying it "bears the hallmarks of an 'intelligence operation'."

Wide-ranging debate

Köchler's reports as UN-appointed international observer of one of the most controversial criminal trials in

British history The British Isles have witnessed intermittent periods of competition and cooperation between the people that occupy the various parts of Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Ireland, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and t ...

have led to a global debate on the role of NGO observers in the context of international criminal justice. Through his novel and pro-active interpretation of his assignment as UN-appointed "international observer", he has redefined the role of observers in the context of

international criminal justice International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

. His reports have been published as landmark documents of international law in collections such as that of the

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Library of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. His experience as observer of the Lockerbie trial led him to write the book '' Global Justice or Global Revenge?'' (2003) in which he describes the challenges faced by international criminal justice under the conditions of

and draws general conclusions in terms of the doctrine of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. In September 2008, following a meeting organised by the Lockerbie Justice Group at Greshornish House on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

, Köchler and Professor Robert Black called for a new public inquiry into the

. Köchler said:

"Irrespective of the outcome of the current appeal, there should be a reinvestigation of the incident by the Scottish authorities. It is extremely frustrating that with regard to such an incident just one person has been presented as the culprit and no further questions asked. Only a child would believe such a story."

During Köchler's visit to Scotland, he met former MP and Lockerbie activist

Tam Dalyell Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983 ...

, MSP Alex Neil and Iain McKie, father of Scottish policewoman

Shirley McKie Shirley McKie (born August 1962) is a former Scottish police detective who was accused by fingerprint analysis staff of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) of leaving her thumb print on the bathroom door frame of a murder crime-scene i ...

. On 18 September 2008, he delivered a keynote speech on the "Lockerbie Trial and the Rule of Law" organised by '' The Firm'' magazine which was held at the Glasgow

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

. Focusing on the

public interest immunity Public-interest immunity (PII), previously known as Crown privilege, is a principle of English common law under which the English courts can grant a court order allowing one litigant to refrain from disclosing evidence to the other litigants wher ...

certificate deployed by the British government, Köchler said:

Dr. Hans Koechler's two observer reports

Report on the trial (3 February 2001)

IPO documents

Note concerning the status of Hans Köchler as international observer at the Lockerbie trial (2002)

* ttp://i-p-o.org/koechler-lockerbie-referral-29June2007.htm Hans Köchler’s statement on the decision of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission on the referral of Mr. Megrahi’s case (2007)
"Lockerbie case: new accusations of manipulation of key forensic evidence" Statement by Hans Köchler (2007)

* ttp://i-p-o.org/Koechler-Lockerbie-statement-appeal-July2008.htm Statement by Hans Köchler on the second Lockerbie appeal and the right to a fair trial (2008)
"The Lockerbie case: prisoner transfer or prisoner release? How to reconcile the requirements of the rule of law and the imperatives of humanity" – Hans Köchler's statement to the BBC (2009)

United Nations documents

(see Para. 2)

* ttps://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1998/scres98.htm Security Council resolution 1192 of 27 August 1998 providing for the nomination of international observers

Köchler's publications on Lockerbie

* (Ed. with Jason Subler
The Lockerbie Trial: Documents related to the I.P.O. observer mission

* ttp://nlsir.in/index.php/component/content/article/25-the-project/69-the-lockerbie-trial-and-the-rule-of-law The Lockerbie Trial and the Rule of Law

National Law School of India Review The ''National Law School of India Review'' is a student-run, Peer review, peer-reviewed, bi-annual law review published by the ''Student Advocate Committee'' of the National Law School of India University. History The journal was established ...

, Vol. 21(1), 2009

References

External links

Hans Köchler's academic web site

* ttp://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/library/lockerbie/index.asp Text of the Lockerbie judgments
News Release of the SCCRC concerning the referral of the case to the High Court of Justiciary
{{Pan Am Flight 103 2000 in law 2000 in international relations Pan Am Flight 103 International criminal law History of the United Nations Libya and the United Nations