scholarly journals Collapsing Legitimacy: How the Crime of Aggression Could Affect the icc’s Legitimacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-542
Author(s):  
Frederick Cowell ◽  
Ana Leticia Magini
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Political Compromise ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Way

The International Criminal Court (icc) will gain the capacity to prosecute the crime of aggression in 2017. The Amendments to the Rome Statute are the product of a political compromise and have a complex legal structure with a high definitional threshold for an act of aggression alongside a bespoke jurisdictional arrangement. This legal structure is likely to mean that very few acts of aggression are considered crimes. Even when acts of aggression pass the threshold set out in the amendments, it is highly likely that any such prosecution would not succeed. This article argues that this is likely to significantly impact the legitimacy of the icc as an organization. To understand this, it is necessary to look at the different meanings of legitimacy before examining how the way in which the law is configured could undermine the political legitimacy of the organization as a whole.

Part 3 General Principles of Criminal Law: Principes Généraux Du Droit Pénal, Art.24 Non-retroactivity ratione personae /Non-rétroactivité ratione personae

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schabas William A
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Simple Manner ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Principle Of Legality

This chapter comments on Article 24 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Preceded by two provisions that entrench two Latin maxims described collectively as the principle of legality, article 24 completes the treatment of the subject in Part 3 of the Rome Statute. Article 24 promises the accused that if there is a change in the law applicable to a given case prior to a final judgment, ‘the law more favourable shall apply’. However, this rule giving the defendant the benefit of the ‘more favourable’ provision is not without difficulties. It is not always a simple manner to determine which rule is in fact more favourable. Moreover, there may be an important element of subjectivity, in that individuals may differ in their assessment.

scholarly journals Dealing with Non-cooperation at the icc: Towards a More Holistic Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 911-937
Author(s):  
Olympia Bekou
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Cooperation System ◽  
The Way

The article examines the legal and non-legal responses to tackling non-cooperation with requests issued by the International Criminal Court. Through an examination of the Rome Statute regime as well as the relevant jurisprudence, the paper argues that a shift in the way non-cooperation is dealt with is needed. The article shows both the strengths and limitations of the cooperation system. It concludes that the legal responses of the Court require consistency in order to send a coherent message to non-cooperating States. Ultimately, the article argues that in order to successfully address non-cooperation, it would be important to focus on possible synergies between the legal framework, political tools, actions that are available to States and judicial findings by the Court.

scholarly journals The Legal Politics of the Article 16 Decision: The International Criminal Court, the un Security Council and Ontologies of a Contemporary Compromise

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamari Maxine Clarke ◽  
Sarah-Jane Koulen
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
African State ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
Ontological Shift

This introductory essay aims to offer a framework through which to make sense of the controversies arising from International Criminal Court (icc) intervention in Africa. One such controversy is related to the deployment of the powers to refer and defer icc cases central to Article 16 of the Rome Statute for the icc. The manner in which the unsc has employed this power has led critics – particularly on the African continent – to conclude that a range of geopolitics has undermined the judicial independence of the icc. The essay argues, therefore, that the drafting history of Article 16 of the Rome Statute shows the workings of the political origins of the law and the manner in which foundational inequalities were woven into the very fabric of the Rome Statute. Following theorists such as Giorgio Agamben and Walter Benjamin who have conceptualized law as violence and who have taken seriously the ways in which violence and inequality live on through the law, the authors argue that not only can contemporary ontologies of international criminal law not escape the politics of its making, but if we are to adequately address the conditions of violence in the postcolonial African state there must be an ontological shift in the way we conceptualize law. They propose a rethinking that acknowledges root causes of violence and that take seriously politically adumbrated histories of violence that continue live in the armature of the postcolonial state. Considering how and when political settlements are relevant and rethinking how complementarity and cooperation might work more effectively are key to the conceptual framework.

scholarly journals Demystifying the Crime of Aggression: A Case for the International Criminal Court

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-164
Author(s):  
Edrine Wanyama
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Justice ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Political Status ◽  
The Postponement

The crime of aggression forms one of the most controversial parts of international law in contrast with the need to protect national sovereignty of a given state without undue interference. Even with the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, the crime of aggression seems to have been sidelined in favour of other matters of international justice concerns that did not directly touch the political status of the different states parties. Jurisdictional issues concerning aggression were left unresolved. The term „aggression‟ was nevertheless given recognition in the year 2010 at a Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala, Uganda, from 31 May to 11 June 2010. However, the concept still remains on paper due to the postponement in establishing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court till 2017. Currently, only four states have signed and ratified the amendments to the Rome Statute 1998 and they are to be enforced over the next couple of years. This article gives an overview of the crime of aggression. It examines some of the contentious issues that may arise in relation to the crime of aggression.

Part 12 Financing: Financement, Art.114 Payment of expenses/Règlement des dépenses

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schabas William A
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law

This chapter comments on Article 114 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Article 114 states that the expenses of the Court and the Assembly of States Parties, including its Bureau and subsidiary bodies, shall be paid from the funds of the Court. Article 114 has been described as an attempt to avoid a practice resulting from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea whereby the Secretary-General pays for meetings of States Parties and other bodies out of the general budget. Thus, should the Secretary-General host meetings, any expenses incurred, for example for Secretariat services, must be paid by the Court, not the United Nations.

Part 2 Jurisdiction, Admissibility, and Applicable Law: Compétence, Recevabilité, Et Droit Applicable, Art.13 Exercise of jurisdiction/Exercice de la compétence

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schabas William A
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
State Party ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The Law

This chapter comments on Article 13 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Article 13 is the first of three provisions in the Rome Statute on the ‘triggering’ of the jurisdiction. Once it is established that the Court has jurisdiction, a ‘situation’ must be triggered by one of the three mechanisms set out in article 13. The law applicable to referral by a State Party, which is authorized by article 13(a), is thoroughly addressed in article 14 of the Rome Statute. Similarly, the law concerning proprio motu initiation of proceedings by the Prosecutor is dealt with in article 15. As a result, the present analysis focuses on article 13(b), which establishes the authority of the United Nations Security Council to refer a ‘situation’ to the Court.

Victims' Rights and the International Criminal Court: Perceptions within the Court Regarding the Victims’ Right to Participate

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
JO-ANNE WEMMERS
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Organizational Psychology ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Legal Study ◽  
Victim Participation ◽  
The Law

AbstractBased on interviews with 23 key figures at the International Criminal Court, this study represents an effort to go beyond the text of the Rome Statute. It tries to understand the different views or interpretations of the law regarding victim participation that exist within the organization and will ultimately shape how victims’ rights are applied in the Court. Rather than being a legal study, this research is rooted in organizational psychology.

Classifying Acts as Crimes Against Humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 796-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Haenen
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
The Law

The law is a living organism, which is reflected by the ever-evolving landscape of international criminal law. Time and again, conflicts demonstrate the many ways in which human beings can hurt each other. The law must be able to anticipate and react to these cruelties. On the one hand, the law must be specific enough to assure legal certainty and prevent arbitrary convictions; on the other hand, it must be broad and general enough to keep up with developments in real life and cover previously unimagined behavior. Forced marriage is an example of such a criminal phenomenon, which, even though the taking of brides by the victor has for centuries been a common occurrence during conflict situations, has only recently appeared in the international limelight. When the international community is confronted with criminal practices that are not codified in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it is faced with the daunting task of legally characterizing this conduct: can the act in question be brought within the ambit of the core crimes of the Rome Statute? And if so, how is it best criminalized: as a war crime, a form of genocide, or a crime against humanity?

scholarly journals Aggression, Affected States, and a Right to Participate: A Response to Koh and Buchwald

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 246-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Williams
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Security ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Security Framework ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Military Action

At the review conference in Kampala, States Parties adopted three new provisions on the crime of aggression for inclusion in the Rome Statute, as well as consequential amendments to the Elements of Crimes. However, states parties did not consider revisions to the procedural arrangements that may be required to accommodate the crime of aggression. The crime of aggression requires a link to states, being limited to acts of aggression by one state against another state. The individuals that can be charged with the crime of aggression are persons “in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State.” The crime is also connected to the international security framework, in particular the UN Charter. Given that aggression is intrinsically linked to state acts, it is “likely that the ICC [International Criminal Court] would need relevant states to cooperate, present evidence, and argue the case.” Yet the existing framework does not include an adequate right of participation for affected states. This contribution suggests one possible revision to provide a clearer legal basis for states to participate directly in ICC proceedings in respect of the crime of aggression.

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