LAW310FactPatternAssignmentSpring 2021.doc - FACT PATTERN...

FACT PATTERN ANALYSIS (50% Course Grade)
You are a legal officer in South Korea employed in the “North Korea Human Rights
Documentation Office” of the Ministry of Justice (“Documentation Office”) established pursuant to
the 2016 “North Korean Human Rights Act.” The purpose of the Documentation Office is to collect
information received from North Korean refugees and defectors as well as other direct evidence on
the status of human rights violations in North Korea in order to pressure North Korea to respect
human rights norms; ensure accountability for the perpetrators by building case files for
prosecutions; and promote redress for the victims.
You have been asked by the Minister of Justice to assess the evidence and alleged facts in
the archive of the Documentation Office to prepare a memorandum analyzing the following issues:
1). Whether the international crimes of war crimes and/or crimes against humanity should
be charged under the facts of this situation in light of the requisite chapeau and actus reus
elements and which charge(s) are likely to be most successful;
For the applicable law, in addition to the Rome Statute (South Korea has been a States Party
since 13 November 2002), you have been instructed to look to customary international law existing
at the time of the alleged criminal conduct as codified in treaties and relevant international
jurisprudence since North Korea is not a party to any of the relevant treaties. You have also been
requested to indicate in your analysis whether further factual investigation might be needed to
establish certain crimes.
The Documentation Office archive reveals the following:
Since 1953, the Korean Worker’s Party (“WPK”) has been the sole political party in North
Korea, and most of the country’s 25 million citizens are members as indicated on their national
identity cards, having been born into the party. The cornerstone ideology of the party and
government operations is “Juche”--an embodiment of the Supreme Leader’s wisdom, an expression
of his leadership, and an idea which provides “a complete answer to any question that arises in the
struggle for national liberation.” Its core tenets are economic self-sufficiency through socialism,