Dapo Akande


Does the ICC Statute Remove Immunities of State Officials in National Proceedings? Some Observations from the Drafting History of Article 27(2) of the Rome Statute

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk! Following oral hearings held in September, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently deliberating in Jordan’s Appeal of the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision holding that it had failed to cooperate with the ICC by refusing to arrest and surrender Sudan’s President, Omar Al-Bashir, when he visited Jordan. Central to the determination […]

The Bolton Speech: The Legality of US Retaliatory Action Against Judges and Officials of the International Criminal Court?

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk! The speech given on Monday by John Bolton, US National Security Adviser, threatening action by the US against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to potential ICC investigation of US personnel with regard to the situation in Afghanistan has generated a lot of interest (see here, here, here and here). There are a plethora of policy and political […]

South African Withdrawal from the International Criminal Court – Does the ICC Statute Lead to Violations of Other International Obligations?

Cross posted from EJIL:Talk! The relations between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and African States have come to a head once again this week with situation now at its lowest point. The government of South Africa has announced (see here) that it is withdrawing from the Statute of the ICC and that it has submitted its instrument […]

When Does the Use of Force Against a Non-State Armed Group trigger an International Armed Conflict and Why does this Matter?

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   Over at Just Security (see for example here, here and here) and also at Opinio Juris (see hereand here) there has been a very interesting discussion on whether aspects of the conflict in Syria should be regarded as international armed conflicts (IACs) rather than simply non-international armed conflicts (NIACs). These discussions have followed on from the release of […]

An International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the ICC Head of State Immunity Issue

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   Earlier this week, I wrote about the recent decision of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal holding that the South African government had violated its obligations in failing to arrest Sudanese President Bashir when he attended the African Union Summit in South Africa last June. That decision is just the […]

The Bashir Case: Has the South African Supreme Court Abolished Immunity for all Heads of States?

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   Earlier this month, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal decided unanimously (see the judgment here) that the South African government had breached its obligations under the South African domestic statute implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and under the Rome Statute, by failing to arrest and detain for surrender […]

International Criminal Justice on the March?

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   March been a significant one for international criminal justice with a series of high profile judgments by the ICC and the ICTY. There has been the conviction of the former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, on the basis of superior responsibility, for war crimes and […]

UK Parliamentary Inquiry into UK Policy on the Use of Drones for Targeted Killing

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   In August this year, the United Kingdom carried out a drone strike in Syria for the purpose of targeting a member of ISIS (see previous discussion here and here). At the end of October, the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the UK’s Parliament launched an inquiry into the UK government’s policy on the […]

The Constructive Ambiguity of the Security Council’s ISIS Resolution

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk!   On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2249 (2015), condemning a series of recent terrorist attacks by Islamic State (IS, ISIS or ISIL). The text of the resolution, together with statements of Council members, is available here. This resolution was proposed by France and superseded two competing earlier drafts by Russia. […]

Embedded Troops and the Use of Force in Syria: International and Domestic Law Questions

Cross-posted from EJIL: Talk!   Editor’s Notes: This post was written before the announcement earlier this week that the UK had conducted a drone strike against members of Islamic State in Syria in August. Commentary on that latest development will follow later.   As Rob McLaughlin noted in his post, UK military pilots, (as well as other UK military […]