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Background

Background. International Criminal Court Established in 1998 Started operating on 1 July 2002 Ratified by 60 states 18 Judges Independent Organisation , not linked to UN In 2011, 108 states had ratified the Rome Statute. Location.

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Background

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  1. Background • International Criminal Court • Established in 1998 • Started operating on 1 July 2002 • Ratified by 60 states • 18 Judges • Independent Organisation, not linked to UN • In 2011, 108 states had ratified the Rome Statute.

  2. Location

  3. Green = signed and ratifiedOrange = signed but not ratified

  4. Aims • Ensure the worse perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes. • Serve as a court of last resort that can investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. • Assist national judiciaries in investigating and prosecuting the worse perpetrators, allowing states to be the first to investigate and prosecute. • Help promote international peace and security by deterring future would-be perpetrators.

  5. How does it work? • Initiate proceedings: • Prosecutor • State Party • UN Security Council • Three judges, two must agree for conviction • Only crimes committed since 1 July 2002

  6. What are ‘international’ crimes? • No single agreed definition • Pragmatic definition: Offences over which the international criminal tribunals have to date been given jurisdiction under general international law • To be distinguished from transnational crimes: crimes with actual or potential trans-border effects • Justification: protecting values fundamental to international order and addressing conduct so egregious it offends our shared humanity

  7. Crimes dealt with by the Court • Genocide • Crimes against Humanity • War Crimes • Aggression*

  8. Juristiction • TEMPORAL: The crime occurred after 1 July 2002 (or if a state joins the Rome Statute later, the date the Statute comes into force for that state) and • TERRITORIAL: The crime occurred on the territory of a state party or • PERSONAL: The person accused of the crime is a national of a state party or • REFERRAL: The Security Council has referred the matter under its Chapter VII Charter powers

  9. Admissability • Based on the principle of complementarity • Inadmissible, unless • It is not being dealt with by a state, or • The state dealing, or that has dealt, with the case is unwilling or unable to do so genuinely, and • The case is of sufficient gravity to warrant an international prosecution

  10. Goals • Retribution • Deterrence • Incapacitation • Rehabilitation • End to impunity • Historical record • Giving a voice and justice to victims • Peace, security and reconciliation • Expressive Purpose/Education/Didactic See e.g. MirjanDamaska, ‘What is the Point of International Criminal Justice?’ (2008) 83 Chicago-Kent Law Review 329-365

  11. Does it work? • Voluntary basis. • Example: Sudan – President Omar Al Bashir once said that the ICC was “a mosquito in the ear of an elephant” • Willingness of states to comply.

  12. Case Study • Thomas LubangaDyilo • Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) • Rebels under his command accused of massive human rights violations • Ethnic massacres • Murder • Torture • Rape • Mutilation • Forcible conscription of Child Soldiers

  13. Case Study • 17 March 2006 Lubanga was first person ever arrested under warrant issued by ICC. • Trial began 26 Jan 2009. • Guilty – conviction.

  14. Practice Question • Evaluate how successful one particular IGG has been in achieving one or more of their goals. (5 marks)

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