Cornell International Law Journal
Article Title
Tyranny on Trial: Personality and Courtroom Conduct of Defendants Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein
Keywords
Psychological Factors, International Law, Presidents, Criminal Justice, article, Trials, Personality assessment, Behavioral assessment, Influence, Conduct of court proceedings, Psychological aspects
Abstract
In this essay in the Symposium on Milosevic & Hussein on Trial, the author explores the impacts of personality & courtroom conduct in trial outcome to argue that the likenesses between the two defendants will result in Saddam's projection of grand defiance. Biographical narratives of the two leaders trace the psychological development of each personality through childhood to their political careers characterized by defiant resistance & compensatory grandiosity that may be the source of the similarities of behaviors in the courtroom. Asserting that Saddam is following the Milosevic model of courtroom behavior by derailment of the proceeding, exploitation of the victimization theme, & distortion of history to present his political platform, the author concludes that, defiant & unrepentant, both defendants have returned to the international stage to restate their heroic legacies. J. Harwell
Recommended Citation
Post, Jerrold M. and Panis, Lara K.
(2005)
"Tyranny on Trial: Personality and Courtroom Conduct of Defendants Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein,"
Cornell International Law Journal: Vol. 38:
No.
3, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cilj/vol38/iss3/8