Negotiating at the Interface of Power and Law: The Crime of Aggression (original) (raw)
Related papers
2010
The first review conference to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, held in June 2010 in Kampala successfully concluded decades of negotiations over a statutory definition of the crime of aggression and its prosecution by a permanent international criminal court. The main unresolved issues to be addressed by the review conference concerned the determination of an act of aggression as a (procedural) prerequisite for the exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression and the appropriate activation procedure for a provision on aggression. Most importantly, the compromise of Kampala could safeguard an independent and effective criminal prosecution of the crime of aggression by not subjugating the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction to decisions of outside organs. However, in case of a referral of a situation by a State Party or the initiation of a proprio motu investigation, the Court’s reach over perpetrators is significantly narrowed with a view to crimes of aggre...
Goettingen J. Int'l L., 2010
The first review conference to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, held in June 2010 in Kampala successfully concluded decades of negotiations over a statutory definition of the crime of aggression and its prosecution by a permanent international criminal court. The main unresolved issues to be addressed by the review conference concerned the determination of an act of aggression as a (procedural) prerequisite for the exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression and the appropriate activation procedure for a provision on aggression. Most importantly, the compromise of Kampala could safeguard an independent and effective criminal prosecution of the crime of aggression by not subjugating the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction to decisions of outside organs. However, in case of a referral of a situation by a State Party or the initiation of a proprio motu investigation, the Court’s reach over perpetrators is significantly narrowed with a view to crimes of aggression involving a non-state party or a state-party that does not accept the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction. These concessions, built on state consent to the exercise of criminal prosecution over individuals and elements of reciprocity, concepts that are alien to the Rome Statute, form part of a political compromise that enabled the activation of the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.
The Anatomy of an International Crime: Aggression at the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Law Review, 2013
In 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, the States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted a set of amendments to the Rome Statute that define the elements and trigger mechanisms of the crime of aggression. However, significant questions remain as to what was actually agreed upon in Kampala, including with respect to the parameters of the crime itself. These questions, which include the applicability of exceptions for humanitarian intervention and anticipatory self-defence, affect not only the potential criminal responsibility of individuals charged with the crime of aggression, but also the interests of States in whether their acts are considered to amount to aggression or not. This article explores the anatomy of the crime of aggression and highlights issues that remain to be resolved.
Thoughts on the Crime of Aggression
The problem with aggression is the difficulty of defining what is permissible and impermissible aggression. The Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression has made the first important steps to define a line not to be crossed when dealing with aggression. It builds on a foundation laid by the treaty of Versailles that was to end the wars all wars. In this paper I wish to research the history, meaning, and challenges within the amendments accepted at the Review Conference in Kampala. I want to explore what further needs to be done, so the definition of and jurisdiction over the crime of aggression can contribute to the international peace and security and hold responsible those committing mass atrocities.
Demystifying the Crime of Aggression: A Case for the International Criminal Court
Christ University Law Journal, 2013
The crime of aggression forms one of the most controversial parts of international law in contrast with the need to protect national sovereignty of a given state without undue interference. Even with the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, the crime of aggression seems to have been sidelined in favour of other matters of international justice concerns that did not directly touch the political status of the different states parties. Jurisdictional issues concerning aggression were left unresolved. The term "aggression" was nevertheless given recognition in the year 2010 at a Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala, Uganda, from 31 May to 11 June 2010. However, the concept still remains on paper due to the postponement in establishing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court till 2017. Currently, only four states have signed and ratified the amendments to the Rome Statute 1998 and they are to be enforced over the next couple of years. This article gives an overview of the crime of aggression. It examines some of the contentious issues that may arise in relation to the crime of aggression.
The Crime of Aggression: The United States Perspective
American Journal of International Law, 2015
At the 2010 Review Conference in Kampala, the states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to adopt seven amendments to the Rome Statute that contemplate the possibility of the Court exercising jurisdiction over the crime of aggression subject to certain conditions. One condition was that the exercise of jurisdiction would be “subject to a decision to be taken after 1 January 2017 by the same majority of States Parties as is required for the adoption of an amendment to the Statute,” and another was that such jurisdiction could be exercised “only with respect to crimes of aggression committed one year after the ratification or acceptance of the amendments by thirty States Parties.” As these dates approach, we—two lawyers who represented the United States at the Kampala conference and who worked many hours on the United States’ reengagement with the ICC during the Obama administration—thought it an appropriate moment to take stock of where we ar...