The ruling was seen as significant because it was the first case in a United Nations tribunal that focused exclusively on the fate of a group formally defined as prisoners of war who were entitled to protection under the Geneva Convention.
At the trial, the defence suggested that a government conspiracy may have been responsible, but were told by the tribunal to focus on the case at hand.
The US tribunals focus on identifying and dealing with each offender's underlying problems and preventing their re-offending.
Mr. Prosper said the administration wanted both tribunals to focus on winding up their work by 2007-2008.
Some have questioned the tribunals are too focused on Africa, as all pending cases currently are Africa-related.
But whereas the ad hoc tribunals are geographically focused, the ICC has a global remit and has to engage in often lengthy negotiations with national judicial systems to attempt to meet its goals.
Defense lawyers at the tribunal protested Mr. Erlinder's arrest last year, saying that he was being prosecuted specifically for his work in trial at the court, which focused on the downing of a presidential jet in April 1994.
General Martins then announced that he was nevertheless seeking the dismissal of the conspiracy charge in the Sept. 11 tribunal case to focus on the "legally sustainable charges," like attacking civilians.
Although the tribunal battle will focus on technical issues surrounding competition laws, it touches on two critical policy areas for the Australian government; the privatisation of state assets and concerns about price increases, and the long-term viability of coalmining ventures in Australia.
Privacy International's legal challenge was originally filed with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal oversight body in June last year — focused on "whether the acquisition, use, retention, disclosure, storage and deletion of Bulk Personal Datasets is in accordance with the law and necessary and proportionate".
