The ICC and Complementarity in Practice

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL NSEREKO
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Community ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Territorial States

AbstractSince the start of its operations 10 years ago, the International Criminal Court has dealt with a number of challenges to the admissibility of cases before it. Some of the challenges were mounted by territorial states that had jurisdiction over the cases. Others were mounted by accused persons. The Court, acting on its own initiative, has, on a number of occasions, also considered issues of the admissibility of cases before it. It has done this, in the main, at the pre-trial stages of proceedings. Some of the cases arose out of state or Security Council referrals. Others arose out of the Prosecutor's initiated investigations. In the course of dealing with these matters the Court has endeavoured to strike a balance between the states’ right to exercise their sovereignty through national proceedings, on the one hand, and the interests of the international community to ensure that ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished’, on the other. In the process of doing so the Court has also developed some practices and generated an impressive body of jurisprudence, the subject of this article. The jurisprudence evinces the Court's readiness to assume jurisdiction over a case in situations where there is clear inaction on the part of the national authorities. The article, which is a critical exposé of that jurisprudence, endorses this stance as a veritable antidote to impunity for atrocity crimes.

Global Goals versus Bilateral Barriers? The International Criminal Court in the Context of US Relations with Germany and Japan

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
KERSTIN LUKNER
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
The Us ◽  
The One

AbstractThis article deals with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a point of contention in US relations with Germany and Japan. Both countries rank among America's closest allies, but – quite contrary to the US – they have also been supporting the establishment and operation of the ICC, although each to a different extent. The article analyzes the reasons for the three countries’ diverging attitudes and policies towards the establishment and operation of the Court, and contrasts Germany's and Japan's handling of the ICC issuevis-à-visthe US. It suggests that Berlin's idealistic position and full ICC support on the one hand, as well as Japan's cautious and pragmatic approach on the other, are both rooted not only in their individual evaluations of the ICC's institutional design, but also the varying degrees of their bi/multilateral orientation and the extent of their ‘dependence’ on US security commitments.

Secondary Measures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Pattison
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Buck Passing

This chapter considers measures that often aim to tackle mass atrocities and external aggression as a secondary aim. It focuses on three measures: actions by the International Criminal Court (ICC), (2) accepting refugees, and (3) humanitarian assistance. The chapter examines the question of whether we should frame these measures as major policy options to tackle mass atrocities and serious external aggression. On the one hand, it argues that international criminal prosecutions by the ICC should be seen as a central part of the toolkit for responses to mass atrocities. This is despite worries about its politicization and linking it to R2P. On the other hand, it argues that we should not view accepting refugees and humanitarian aid as part of the R2P toolkit, in large part due to worries about buck-passing.

Defining the Crime of Aggression Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Kaye Müller-Schieke
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Community ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Past ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Decisive Test ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Article 5

Article 5 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court verifies the four most serious crimes to the international community as a whole upon which the Court shall have jurisdiction. Though it includes the crime of aggression the Statute lacks a definition of that crime. The purpose of the article is to offer a sustainable definition. It discusses the constitutive elements of the crime, focussing on the crucial points in a debate that has been actively engaged in for the past 50 years. Certainly, the crux of the matter lies in the role the Security Council should play in this regard. […] there has been a persistent undercurrent of opinion expressive of the view that there is no fixed limit to the possibilities of judicial settlement; that all conflicts in the sphere of international politics can be reduced to contests of a legal nature; that the only decisive test of justiciability of the dispute is the willingness of the disputants to submit the conflict to the arbitrament of law.H. Lauterpacht

The Failure to Control and the Failure to Prevent, Repress and Submit: The Structure of Superior Responsibility under Article 28 icc Statute

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuya Yokohama
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Core ◽  
Controversial Topic ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The One ◽  
Superior Responsibility ◽  
The Relationship

In Article 28 of the statute of the International Criminal Court (icc), there appear to be two kinds of omission, namely, a failure to control on the one hand, and a failure to prevent, repress and submit on the other. However, the relationship between both omissions remains unclear so far. This is a controversial topic not only in the scholarly debate but also in the recent jurisprudence of the icc. The core question is whether both omissions need to be proved separately (twofold-failures approach), or whether only the proof of the latter omission could suffice for the superior to be held responsible (single-failure approach). These two approaches could lead to different conclusions as to several aspects of superior responsibility: the ‘number’ of omissions that must be proved and the requirement of causality, for example. This article addresses the difference between these two approaches and demonstrates which approach should be adopted.

Measuring Performance and Shaping Identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Jones
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Victim Satisfaction ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The One

Abstract Amid pressure to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the International Criminal Court (ICC), work has progressed on the development of a set of performance indicators for the ICC. This article argues that performance indicators play into tensions that underpin the international criminal justice process at the ICC, in particular between expeditiousness, on the one hand, and fairness and victim satisfaction, on the other. It argues that while the ICC’s performance indicators extend assessment of the ICC beyond the speedy completion of cases and embrace goals of fairness and victim access to justice, they inevitably support the former to the detriment of the latter, with implications for the Court’s identity. While acknowledging the benefits of performance indicators for the ICC, the article outlines several measures to counter the risks that they pose for the balance between these goals.

The International Criminal Court and Universal Jurisdiction

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ademola Abass
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Criminal Jurisdiction

AbstractThis article examines whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) can exercise universal jurisdiction. In particular, the author responds to the argument that the ICC can exercise universal jurisdiction on the basis of delegated criminal jurisdiction and the aut dedere aut judicare principle, and challenges the view that the trial of nationals of non-parties by the ICC neither creates obligations for such states nor contravenes the Monetary Gold principle. The author argues that although some Rome Statute crimes have universal character, this does not automatically entitle the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over non-party nationals outside such limited universal jurisdiction as may be conferred on the Court through the Security Council referral.

Sexual Slavery and Members of a Terrorist Group – What is the Future of the 'Boko Haram' Trial at the International Criminal Court?

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-253
Author(s):  
Michala Chadimova
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Sexual Slavery ◽  
Preliminary Examination ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

Crimes committed by the members of Boko Haram in Nigeria are not only the subject of national trials but also of preliminary examination at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This article focuses on the sexual slavery perpetrated by Boko Haram, describes how the crimes are viewed within the national Nigerian criminal process and addresses the possibility of prosecution of the crimes at the ICC.<br/> This article analyses the legal terminology used to describe the crimes connected to Boko Haram – enslavement, sexual slavery, human trafficking and terrorism – and their interaction. While providing an overview of the ICC's current preliminary examination into the situation in Nigeria, this article discusses how the principle of complementarity is potentially holding the OTP back from the formal investigation.<br/> Furthermore, an overview of cases at the ICC that have involved charges of sexual slavery or enslavement will be provided. By analysing the Court's findings in relation to elements of sexual slavery, this article provides an insightful view into the Court's rhetoric on this crime. Similarly, this article discusses modes of liability that have been employed in the Katanga/Chui and Ntaganda cases and provides a learning opportunity for future cases of sexual slavery as both a crime against humanity (Article 7(1)(g) of the Rome Statute) and a war crime (Article 8(2)(e)(vi) of the Rome Statute; 8(2)(b)(xxii) of the Rome Statute).

The Role of UN Documentation in Shaping Narratives at the International Criminal Court and the Implications for the Rights of the Accused

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Anne Herzberg
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Community ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Close Cooperation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Primary Basis

Abstract The International Criminal Court (icc) is an independent treaty-based international organisation acting in close cooperation with the United Nations (UN). To that end, organs of the Court have extensively relied on UN documentation in proceedings. These materials have been used to support grounds for the exercise of jurisdiction, demonstrate legal elements of crimes, and prove matters of fact. In recent practice, including in the situations of Palestine, Bangladesh/Myanmar, and Mali, UN materials have been used to establish legal and factual matters on the primary basis that they represent the ‘views of the international community’. This paper examines the ways in which Court organs rely on UN documentation in icc proceedings. It assesses the interplay of such information with rights of the accused. The paper concludes that in order to safeguard its credibility and the fairness of the proceedings, the Court should adopt specific guidelines relating to the evaluation of and admissibility of UN materials.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document