On 17 October 2012, the United Nations Security Council, in New York, held an open debate on “peace and justice with a special focus on the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC)”. The ICC operates independently of the United Nations and its jurisdiction is limited to countries who have signed the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statue. The Court can however pursue crimes in non member state countries if the situation is referred to it by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). To date, the UNSC has referred two cases to the ICC over alleged crimes committed in Libya and in Sudan’s Darfur region. The referral process was considered during the debate and coalition members of the ICC called on the Council to adopt a more consistent approach in referring situations to the ICC.
Judge Sang-Hung Song, the president of the ICC, and Fatou Bensouda, representing the Office of the Prosecutor, called on the UN Security Council to ensure that, in referral cases, its member states cooperate with war crimes inquiries. Judge Song said that the Court “needs to be able to count on the full and continuing cooperation of all United Nations members, whether they are parties to the Rome Statute or not”
A UN press release reported Ban Ki-Moon as saying that the Council had a vital role to play in assisting the ICC to ensure that war crimes and crimes against humanity around the world do not go unpunished. Bulletin readers will remember that the ICC delivered its first verdict in March 2012 and found Thomas Lubanga guilty of war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Click here to read a news article on the debate and another.
In related news, on 3 October, Trial Chamber V of the ICC ruled on victims' legal representation and participation rights in two Kenyan cases. In an attempt to streamline the procedure for victim participation, the Court adopted a new procedure whereby victims who wish to appear before the Court in person must make an individual application whereas those participating through a common legal representative may participate through a registration process. In his article James Gondi raises concerns about the meaningful participation of (potentially) thousands of victims and considers the judgment to be the Court’s least victim friendly decision to date.
Click here to read an update from the Victims Rights Working Group.