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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (AIMS (Ensure that the worst perpetrators are…
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
THE ROME STATUTE
The UN General Assembly voted to adopt the Rome Statute (1998)
Is a statute that states are able to sign on to to say that they will try and forbid war crimes in their state
Established the ICC (2002), a permanent court with an international jurisdiction to bing formal accusations against accused perpetrators of four types of crimes:
Genocide
War crimes (set out in the Geneva convention)
Crimes against humanity
Crimes of aggression
AIMS
Ensure that the worst 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 worst perpetrators, allowing states to be the first to investigate and prosecute
Help promote international peace and security by deterring future would-be perpetrators
POWERS
ICC
Conduct investigations
Issue arrest warrants and request extraditions, regardless if the state is a member or not
Detain accused perpetrators before trial
Trial and sentence perpetrators
Jail sentences are binding on states
STATES
Cooperate or not with investigations, e.g. deny extradition
Arrest perpetrators and send them to the ICC
Enforce ICC sentencing
JURISDICTION
Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a
particular nation or ethnic group
A war crime is an act carried out during the
conduct of war that violates accepted international rules of war.
The rules of war are set out in the Geneva Convention with the aim of minimising the amount of unnecessary suffering on the battlefield
A crime against humanity is a
widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population
that can include murder, rape and/or enslavement
A crime of aggression is the
planning, preparation, initiation or execution by a person in a leadership position
of an act of aggression
SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTIONS
The ICC so far has only successfully prosecuted 4 individuals and prosecuted a further 3 individuals for obstructing justice
Success #1 - Thomas Lubanga Dylio
• War lord from the Democratic Republic of Congo
• arrested on charges of war crimes (Article 8 of Rome Statute) in 2006 (accused of enlisting child soldiers)
• trial began 26th Jan 2009
• convicted on the charge of war crimes March 2012
• sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment
• currently imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
What power does this demonstrate the ICC has? How is that power limited?
The ICC have such a high standard of proof required to prove a case that it takes many years for the prosecution to gather enough to successfully prosecute an individual of at least some of their crimes
Through the act of the crimes, there is often not enough witnesses and evidence for most of the crimes meaning that most offenders get away with most of their crimes without punishment. This is also the reason for the short sentences
Eliminating only a single leader in a crime , it does not stop the group or deter the crimes.
CRITICISMS
Only African people have been prosecuted so far
Takes so long to gather sufficient evidence, bring to trial and sentence a crime
LIMITATIONS
For the ICC to proceed with a prosecution,
at least one
of the following must occur:
The accused must be a national of a state party to the Rome Statute
The alleged crime must have occurred on the territory of a State Party
A situation in a non-member state is referred to the Court by the UN Security Council
A state not party to the Rome Statute accepts the ICC's jurisdiction