The International Criminal Court: Challenges for the Future

1
The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Steven Freeland
• University of Western Sydney
• University of Copenhagen
• Visiting Professional, The International Criminal
  Court

2
International Criminal Law

• Accountability for crimes that shock the
  conscience of the world
• gross violations of human rights
• but . need for specific definition
• Crimes within mandate of the International
  Criminal Court
• Genocide
• intention to destroy all or part of a national,
  ethnic, racial or religious group, as such
• Crimes Against Humanity
• widespread or systematic attack on any civilian
  population
• War Crimes
• breach of Geneva Conventions / laws and customs
  of armed conflict
• (Aggression) to be defined
• Other Crimes?

3
Dealing with International Crimes

• International Military Tribunals
• Nuremberg / Tokyo
• Ad Hoc Tribunals established by United Nations
  Security Council
• ICTY / ICTR
• Hybrid / Internationalized Courts established
  by Agreement between the UN and the relevant
  country
• Sierra Leone / Cambodia / East Timor / Lebanon
• Permanent Court established by Treaty
• International Criminal Court

4
Dealing with International Crimes(continued)

• Regional Human Rights Courts
• ECHR / ACHR / IACHR
• National Courts
• Iraqi Special Tribunal / Indonesian Human Rights
  Court / Lockerbie / Eichmann / Pinochet
• Local Courts
• Gacaca community justice (Rwanda)
• (Truth and) Reconciliation Commissions
• South Africa / Sierra Leone / Bosnia / Latin
  American Countries
• Amnesties / Nothing Peace v Justice dilemma
• Haiti / Uganda (Idi Amin) / Uganda (LRA)? /
  Darfur?

5
The ICC - (current) Cases and Situations

• The Democratic Republic of Congo
• The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo 
• The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda
• The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu
  Ngudjolo Chui
• The Republic of Uganda
• The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot
  Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen  
• Darfur, Sudan
• The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Muhammad Harun (Ahmad
  Harun) and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali
  Kushayb) 
• (arrest warrant requested against Omar Hassan
  al-Bashir)
• The Central African Republic
• The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo  
• Cote dIvoire
• Other investigations

6
The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Structural Challenges include
• building a new institution
• lessons from the other international criminal
  tribunals
• harmonization of multicultural work practices and
  expectations
• demarcation of responsibilities within the
  divisions of the Court
• continuity of expertise and work practices

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The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Legal Challenges include
• the legality of the Court
• meaning / operation of complementarity
• ambiguities in the Legal Texts
• case and trial management
• the rights of the accused
• resources of counsel for accused
• the rights of victims
• the status of the Victims Trust Fund
• harmonization of legal principles (ICTY / ICJ,
  common law / civil law etc)

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The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Political Challenges include
• the need for cooperation by States
• peace v justice concerns
• the attitude of the major powers
• relationship between Court and UNSC
• Agreement on Privileges and Immunities
• Bilateral Immunity Agreements
• additional discrete crimes within the mandate of
  the Court

9
The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Practical Challenges include
• the obtaining of evidence
• how to execute arrest warrants
• the need for accurate information

10
The International Criminal CourtChallenges for
the Future

• Financial Challenges include
• oversight by the ASP
• annual budgets
• how much justice are we prepared to pay for?