The Anatomy of an International Crime: Aggression at the International Criminal Court (original) (raw)
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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.
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...
2014
2.3. Method and Material………………………………………………………4 2.4 Limitations……………………………………………………………………….4 2.5 Outline/Structure of Analysis……………………………………………5 3. Briefly about the lead-up to the historical agreement in Kampala 2010…………………………………………………………………………………………6 4. Understanding the Crime of Aggression. Historical review of breach of the peace…………………………………………………….…….…….8 5. Material aspects-what constitutes the crime and what are the exceptions. …………………………………………………………………………..
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 crime of aggression under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
2013
This guide to the crime of aggression provisions under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) offers an exhaustive and sophisticated legal analysis of the crime's definition as well as the provisions governing the ICC's exercise of jurisdiction over the crime. A range of practical issues likely to arise in prosecutions of the crime of aggression before the ICC are canvassed, as is the issue of the domestic prosecution of the crime. It also offers an insight into the geo-political significance of the crime of aggression and the activation of the ICC's ability to exercise its jurisdiction over the crime. The author's intimate involvement in the crime's negotiations combined with extensive scholarly reflection on the criminalisation of interState uses of armed force makes this highly relevant to all academics and practitioners interested in the crime of aggression. carrie mcdougall is a legal specialist in the International Law Section of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where she advises on various topics including international criminal law and the use of force.
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...
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