An Analysis of the Admissibility of the Kenyan Situation Before the International Criminal Court in Light of the Principle of Complementarity

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvis Begi Nyachieo Abenga
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

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).

Equal Standards? On the Dialectics between National Jurisdictions and the International Criminal Court

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 229-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harmen van der Wilt
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Standards ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

AbstractThe Rome Statute contains a body of legal standards on elements of the offences, concepts of criminal responsibility and defences of unprecedented detail. Whereas these standards serve the International Criminal Court as normative framework, the principle of complementarity implies that domestic jurisdictions are to take the lead in the adjudication of international crimes.This article addresses the question whether domestic legislators and courts are bound to meticulously apply the international standards, or whether they are left some leeway to apply their own (criminal) law. The article starts with a survey of the actual performance of national jurisdictions. Current international law does not explicitly compel states to copy the international standards; at most one might argue that the codification of international criminal law and the principle of complementarity encourage harmonization.Capitalizing on the concept of 'open texture of law' and the methodology of casuistry, the present author argues that a certain measure of diversity in the interpretation and application of international standards is inevitable and even desirable. However, as a general rule, states have less freedom of interpretation in respect of the elements of crimes than in the application of concepts of responsibility and defences.

The Principle of Complementarity in the Cases of the Sudanese Nationals Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb before the International Criminal Court

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 185-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Pichon
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Constitution ◽  
Ability And Willingness ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

AbstractIn April 2007, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first arrest warrants with regard to the situation in Darfur. Addressees of these measures are the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and former Minister for the Interior Ahmad Harun and the alleged Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who both at the time of writing have not yet been surrendered to the ICC. On the contrary: Sudan consistently invokes its national sovereignty and its ability to prosecute its nationals itself. However, with regard to Harun and Kushayb, there is reason to hold strong doubts as to Sudan's ability and willingness to seriously prosecute them. Therefore, this article assesses the admissibility of these two cases before the ICC, focusing on the principle of complementarity. For this the article starts with an overview of those aspects of the principle of complementarity which are relevant for the situation in Darfur. A thorough analysis of the status of the Sudanese judicial system both before and after the adoption of the Interim National Constitution of Sudan in 2005 follows, before, finally, the application of the principle of complementarity to the two cases is assessed against the results found.

The International Criminal Court and Universal Jurisdiction: A Fraught Relationship?

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cedric Ryngaert
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Territorial State ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity ◽  
Do So

This article deals with the relationship between the principle of universal jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the ICC. Voices have been raised to expand the jurisdictional basis of the ICC's Rome Statute to include the universality principle. The author does not support this expansion, however, mainly on practical grounds. At the same time, however, he does support, albeit cautiously, taking into account the universality principle for purposes of the admissibility analysis under Article 17 of the Statute. The ICC's principle of complementarity indeed requires that the ICC defer to any state that might have jurisdiction, including a state having universal jurisdiction over serious crimes. It is proposed that the ICC Prosecutor encourage certain "bystander" states that can provide an effective forum to investigate and prosecute atrocity cases, at least if the territorial state, or the state of nationality, proves unable and unwilling to do so.

scholarly journals The ICC-African Relationship: More Complex Than a Simplistic Dichotomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Emily Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Political ◽  
Selectivity Bias ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) legitimacy, as an independent and unbiased international criminal court, has been brought into question, for all 30 official cases opened to this date are against African nationals. The ICC-African relationship is often framed in this excessively simplistic dichotomy: either the ICC is regarded as a Western neo-imperial colonial tool, or as a legal institutional champion of global human rights, rid of the political. Nevertheless, each obfuscates the complexity of this relationship by purporting either extreme.  Rather, it is the legal framework of the ICC that necessitates selectivity bias against nationals from developing countries, in particular, African states. The principle of complementarity and the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) referral power embedded in the ICC’s legal framework, allows for African nations to be disproportionately preliminarily examined, investigated, and then tried, while enabling warranted cases against nationals from developed states to circumvent such targeting. Therefore, the primary issue lies not in cases the ICC has opened, but in the cases it has not. 

International criminal court as an international judical body acting on a complementary basis

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-101
Author(s):  
Nihad Fərhad oğlu Qəyayev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Crime ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Policy Paper ◽  
Rules Of Procedure ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

The functioning of the International Criminal Court is carried out on the basis of the principle of complementarity. Thus, in the Preamble and Article 1 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court explicitly states that “the International Criminal Court….complements the national criminal justice authorities”. The principle of complementarity is revealed in Art. 17-20 of the Statute. This article discusses the algorithm and the criteria for evaluating the performance of the complementarity based on the analysis of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Statute), the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (2000), the Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritisations of 2016, the Policy Paper Preliminary Examinations of 2013. Key words: International Criminal Court, principle of complementarity, Rome Statute, international crime, state sovereignty, criminal law jurisdiction, international criminal law, principles of criminal procedure

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