Why Retain Membership of the International Criminal Court?

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-387
Author(s):  
Juan-Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
African Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Victim Participation ◽  
First Time

Among international criminal tribunals (‘icts’), the International Criminal Court (‘icc’) for the first time introduced victim participation and reparations for victims. Against potential African withdrawals from the icc Statute, this article seeks to demonstrate the need to retain membership of the icc under victim-oriented considerations. Despite its deficits and limitations, the icc is arguably an important judicial forum for victims of mass atrocities committed in Africa for three arguments. First, human rights are invoked as a standard to examine the legitimacy of the decisions of the icc, African Union (‘au’), and African states. Second, international and African regional human rights law on victim rights binds African states. Third, since au regional criminal justice initiatives present important deficits and limitations in terms of victim rights, they are unfit to replace the icc.

Extent of Applicability of Human Rights Standards to Proceedings before the International Criminal Court: On Possible Reductive Factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Deprez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Present Article ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Human Rights Standards

Today, it is not seriously challenged that human rights law applies to proceedings before the International Criminal Court. The exact boundaries of this statement, however, might be less clear. The present article argues that the extent of applicability of human rights law cannot be precisely described unless the specific nature of the Court and of international criminal justice in general is taken into consideration. More concretely, it will be demonstrated that the exact scope of applicability of human rights standards to the ICC setting can only be addressed by referring to inherent characteristics (both of the Court and of the international criminal system as a whole) that could possibly bear a reductive impact on that scope. It will be argued throughout the analysis that several of these specific features are indeed capable of reducing the level of protection, while on a closer look others do not display such influence.

Assessing Victim Participation during Sentencing at the International Criminal Court

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-451
Author(s):  
Juan-Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Victim Participation

Abstract Although the academic literature has examined victim participation at the International Criminal Court (ICC), victim participation during the sentencing stage has remained a virtually unexplored topic. Thus, this article assesses the law and, in particular, the practice of the ICC on victim participation during sentencing in light of domestic/international criminal law and human rights law standards. Victim participation during the ICC sentencing stage, i.e. mainly written observations and sentencing hearing participation, is overall consistent with international and domestic criminal law standards, particularly with certain common law jurisdictions and with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon where the trial and sentencing stages are also divided. Additionally, victim participation during the ICC sentencing stage may arguably be justified under international human rights law, especially human rights case law. Importantly, the ICC has introduced some limitations to victim participation to safeguard the convicted person’s rights and procedural efficiency.

scholarly journals Review of the Monograph by PhD in Law D.A. Pechegin «Competitive and Investigative Models of Proceedings in the International Criminal Court»

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-246
Author(s):  
I I Kucherov
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
European Court

Monograph by D.A. Pechegin «Competitive and investigative models of proceedings in the International Criminal Court» is devoted to the study of the model of criminal justice, as well as its implementation in the structure of adversarial and investigative principles, both internationally and nationally. The reader is presented with a comprehensive analysis of various issues in the production of criminal cases through the prism of analyzing the provisions of not only domestic and foreign legislation, but also statutory and other documents of international criminal tribunals, ad hoc courts, the European Court of Human Rights.

The Right to be Defended in Person or Through Legal Assistance and the International Criminal Court

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 949-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Beresford ◽  
Hafida Lahiouel
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Right

While the Statute of the International Criminal Court guarantees to suspects and accused the right to be defended in person or through legal assistance, it contains little guidance as to the extent to which this most fundamental right will be provided. In order to ascertain how broadly it should be applied, the authors examine the application of the right by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The authors note that the defence-orientated approach taken by the ad hoc Tribunals to the right to be defended in person or through legal assistance not only conforms with international obligations, but also in many respects goes beyond that required by international human rights law. It is, therefore, crucial that the ICC listens to the experience of the ad hoc Tribunals and adopts similar, if not identical, rules and regulations relating to the qualifications, conduct and assignment of counsel.

The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals and the Current Prospects of International Criminal Justice

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTONIO CASSESE
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals

AbstractHaving identified the differences between the concept of legality and the much more complex concept of legitimacy, the author scrutinizes the legality and the legitimacy of the existing international criminal tribunals. Their legality has been put in doubt only concerning the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), but the criticisms have been or could be overcome. Assessing the legitimacy of these tribunals is instead a more difficult task. In fact, misgivings have been voiced essentially concerning the legitimacy of the ICTY and the STL, but not the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the other international criminal courts. The legitimacy of the STL in particular deserves to be discussed: even assuming that the STL initially lacked some forms of legitimacy, it could achieve it – or confirm it – through its ‘performance legitimacy’. The author then suggests what the realistic prospects for international criminal justice are. Convinced as he is that it is destined to flourish even more, he tries to identify the paths it is likely to take in future years.

News Media and African Genocide

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim J. Savelsberg ◽  
Wahutu Siguru
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
Global North ◽  
Journalistic Field

Today, genocides and other episodes of mass violence are, under specific circumstances, subject to extensive media reporting. A case in point is the mass violence in Darfur, unfolding during the first decades of the 21st century and categorized as genocide by many, including the International Criminal Court. Media reporting about Darfur shows noteworthy patterns. They are revealed by a study supported by the National Science Foundation, involving content analysis of 3,387 reports and opinion pieces published in prominent newspapers of eight countries in the Global North, accompanied by expert interviews, and a doctoral dissertation on the journalistic field in Africa and its reporting on Darfur. First, today’s media reporting replaces denial with acknowledgment. Second, it frames the violence most often as criminal, and frequently as genocidal, even though humanitarian emergency and armed conflict frames also fare prominently. Third, throughout the history of reporting, Africa correspondents, central actors in the journalistic field, adapt to opportunities and external pressures from surrounding social fields. Economic forces (media markets) and politics affect the frequency of reporting. The criminal justice-oriented human rights field, the humanitarian field, and the diplomatic field influence the frames through which the violence is interpreted. Fourth, the criminal justice-oriented human rights field is especially effective in coloring reports, despite substantial barriers between criminal courts and the journalistic field. Fifth, reporting in all countries is affected by interventions by international institutions, including the UN Security Council, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC’s decision to charge Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, for example, intensified reporting in all countries. Sixth, the receptivity to the criminal justice frame varies by country. Seventh, in addition to cross-country similarities and differences within the Global North, a comparison of journalistic fields in the Global North with those in Africa shows distinct patterns, but also astonishing similarities between Global North and African reporting on Darfur.

The African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Chernor Jalloh
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
African Union ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
History Of

This chapter analyses the controversies surrounding the work of the African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court. It examines whether the legal justifications offered for the Security Council’s involvement in matters of international criminal justice, as administered by the ICC, match the emerging practice. The chapter reviews the drafting history of the Rome Statute to identify the initial benchmark against which to assess the Chapter VII referral and deferral resolutions and their impacts, if any, on the world’s only permanent international penal tribunal. The chapter situates the ICC within a new post-Cold War global paradigm that is not only concerned with ensuring the collective peace, which is the classical responsibility of the UN, but also ensures that international criminal justice is meted out to at least some of the leaders who foment the world’s worst atrocities.

The Contribution of Female Judges to the Victim Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court

2020 ◽  
pp. 366-388
Author(s):  
Juan-Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Judicial Activism ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
Victim Participation

This chapter argues that female judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have made significant meaningful contributions to the ICC jurisprudence on victim matters. They have interpreted and applied the ICC legal framework on victims, have fleshed out the contours and scope of normative provisions, and have faced substantive and procedural issues on victim-witness protection, victim participation and reparations at the ICC. This chapter uses international human rights as a standard to assess the legitimacy of ICC jurisprudence. The jurisprudence on defence rights has largely sought to strike a balance between defence and victim rights. However, some jurisprudence on victims (partially) construed by female judges prompts questions on whether respect for defence rights or other ICC goals may have been compromised. It is argued that all ICC judges, including female judges, should take distance from excessive pro-victim judicial activism to fully respect defence rights, and avoid victim frustration.

The Antinomies of Legitimacy: On the (Im)possibility of a Legitimate International Criminal Court

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asad Kiyani
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
African Union ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Critical Theorist ◽  
Concrete Concept ◽  
Unanswerable Question

This paper critically analyzes the concept of legitimacy as it applies to international criminal law. Using the referral of the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (icc) – and the resultant disagreement between Sudan, the African Union, and the icc – as an entry point, it examines the discourse about the referral as a contest of legitimacy. After placing this specific example in the context of theories of legitimacy, it argues that there are no objective criteria for determining the legitimacy of an international criminal tribunal. Legitimacy as a concrete concept is best understood as a Kantian antinomy – an unanswerable question that borders on the metaphysical. Yet this indeterminacy can be turned to the advantage of the critical theorist, offering pragmatic, normative, and pluralist alternatives for the reconstitution of international criminal tribunals such as the icc.

“Rounding Up the Usual Suspects”: Exclusion, Selectivity, and Impunity in the Enforcement of International Criminal Justice and the African Union’s Emerging Resistance

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeonu Eberechi
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Justice ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
African Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Regime Complex

AbstractDespite the overwhelming ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by African states, recent attempts to prosecute the perpetrators of egregious crimes in the region have come under a sustained opposition from its regional body, the African Union (AU). In fact, the blunt accusation is that international criminal justice has become an instrument of colonization. Within the context of the AU’s claim, this article engages the question of selective enforcement of international criminal accountability, ironically beginning with the Nuremberg trial. Without necessarily justifying the senseless perpetration of heinous crimes in Africa, this article argues that an international justice regime complex that is perceived to be skewed in favour of the West engenders a crisis of legitimacy and ultimately robs it of the much needed cooperation from the region.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document