International Criminal Court


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 […]

Looking for Middle Ground on the Immunity of Al-Bashir? Take the Third ‘Security Council Route’

Cross-posted from EJIL:Talk! On 10-14 September, the Appeals Chamber (AC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held hearings in the appeal of Jordan against the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) II entitled ‘Decision under article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the non-compliance by Jordan with the request by the Court for the arrest and surrender […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Is the relationship of the ICC and R2P truly “win-win”?

Cross-posted from openGlobalRights It has become standard practice to call on the Security Council to refer situations of imminent or ongoing atrocity crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Syria is an obvious case in point. Besides ensuring justice for victims, a key rationale is the hope that ICC referrals can advance objectives related to the […]

Not by International Criminal Tribunals Alone – Options for Pursuing Accountability for Violations of International Humanitarian Law

Numerous possible approaches exist for promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), ranging from dissemination and training, to “naming and shaming” violating parties, individual criminal responsibility, state responsibility, targeted sanctions, as well as engaging with the violating party to assist it to remedy its wrongdoing. All possible approaches must be considered. There is no single […]

The International Court of Justice and the Concept of Aggression: Lessons for the ICC?

Cross-posted from EJIL: Talk! The Kampala Amendments to the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted in June 2010 define the crime of aggression for the purposes of the ICC Statute and set out the conditions under which the ICC will exercise jurisdiction with respect to that crime. It was decided in Kampala that […]