Book Review of "The Pre-Investigation Stage of the ICC: Criteria for Situation Selection" by Ignaz Stegmiller (original) (raw)
Related papers
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has a unique role in the proceedings before the Court. It is the organ primarily tasked with choosing among the numerous situations and cases under the Court's jurisdiction. The legal criteria for situation and case selection, provided in the Rome Statute and related regulations, are relatively open as to allow the Prosecutor a considerable degree of discretion. In order to guide this discretion, the Office of the Prosecutor has developed certain policies and strategies. Prosecutorial policy and strategy stands, almost by definition, at a crossroads between law and politics. This Article identifies strategic choices of the OTP in situation and case selection and analyzes them in relation to the ICC's objectives. There are tensions between the need for predictability and legal certainty on the one hand and for pragmatism and case-by-case flexibility on the other hand. The Article finds that the OTP is downplaying its own discretion by emphasizing the legalistic and apolitical character of its decision-making and bringing the objectives of ending impunity, preventing crimes, and providing redress to victims to the fore. The objectives of restoring peace and security and of contributing to a historical record have been secondary to the OTP's strategic choices.
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.030303 Objectives of International Criminal Law and Jurisdiction of ICC
2016
Although roots of criminal prosecutions are traced back in the 17th and 18th century but newly emerged discipline of international law namely international criminal law gained its scope after adoption Rome Statute. However, statute has not yet been universally accepted and various discrepancies have been raised by various states regarding the Jurisdiction and applicable procedure of International Criminal Court (ICC). Prior to the establishment of ICC, initially various international tribunals were established for the prosecutions of perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression, particularly after World War II. However, the prosecutions were subjected to serious criticism not only by the states representing the accused persons rather by the prosecuting states as well, on the grounds that all the prosecutions were partial in nature
2015
The Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was conceived of as the Court’s gatekeeper and empowered in the Rome Statute to provide an essential counterbalance to the significant discretionary powers granted to the Prosecutor. This thesis analyses in detail the PTC’s powers at the different stages of the Court’s proceedings in which it is called to intervene – ie pre-investigation, investigation and pre-trial stages – and argues that, in general terms and save some limitations, the PTC has the necessary tools to carry out its function. In particular, the PTC has been empowered to prevent possible abuses of power and shield the Prosecutor from external pressures through the judicial review of his most critical discretionary decisions. By way of that judicial control, the PTC is meant to examine the rationale behind the Prosecutor’s decisions in order to guarantee that the exercise of discretion is not abusive or the result of improper political pressures. Th...
Applicable Law within the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Applicable Law within ICC
Following the emergence and the organization of all the international affairs including commerce, trades, money transfers, commercial operations and technological communications among others, states and international organizations became “legal entities” in the global world village. These legal entities drove the necessity of an “International Justice” to regulate these affairs and act against any threat or violation to any right at this level. Among the numerous aspects of this justice, criminal occupies a major importance. This importance is induced from the fact that a presence of legal entities imposes the presence of crimes, which stipulates the need for a “criminal law”. This latter imposes the foundation of a court in which legal suits associated with the violations of these criminal laws. Based on the above, the “International Criminal court” was founded which raised questions about what laws are applied within it. Ideally, an “international law” should be exerted on all legal entities in an international conflict. However, pragmatically many issues arise from this applicability. In the research, a conceptualization of the applicable law within the ICC will be presented (Part 1), in addition to an analysis of the issues resulting from this applicability (Part 2).
Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals - volume 41
This forty-first volume of annotated leading case law of international criminal tribunals contains decisions taken by the ICC in the year 2009. It provides the reader with the full text of the most important decisions, identical to the original version and including concurring, separate and dissenting opinions. Distinguished experts in the field of international criminal law have commented the decisions. An index is included. Contributors: Steven Becker, Menno Dolman, Cristina Fernandez-Pacheco Estrada, Håkan Friman, Lea Kulinowski, Sally Longworth, Alexandra Popov, Heather Stevenson, Marianna Tonellato and Adam Wolrich.
The International Criminal Court on Trial
Cambridge Review of International Affairs 24:3 pp 309-333, 2011
This article assesses the structure and operation of the ICC by setting out a case for the defence of the Court, a case for its prosecution and a verdict. Defenders of the Court suggest it has had a positive impact because: it has accelerated moves away from politics and towards ethics in international relations; it goes a long way towards ending impunity; it is a significant improvement on the previous system of ad hoc tribunals; it has positive spill-over effects onto domestic criminal systems; and because the courage of the Prosecutor and Trial Judges has helped to establish the Court as a force to be reckoned with. Opponents of the Court see it as mired in power politics, too reliant on the UNSC and on state power to be truly independent; failing to bring peace and perhaps even encouraging conflict; and starting to resemble a neo-colonial project rather than an impartial organ of justice. The verdict on the Court is mixed. It has gone some way to ending impunity and it is certainly an improvement on the ad hoc tribunals. However it is inevitably a political body rather than a purely legal institution, its use as a deterrent is as yet unproven and the expectation that it can bring peace as well as justice is unrealistic.