The Crimes Against Humanity Convention, (Overlooked) African Lessons, and the Delicate Dance of Immunity

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Max du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
South African ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Draft Convention ◽  
National Systems ◽  
Realist Perspective

Abstract In a foreword to a special issue of this Journal on the proposed Crimes Against Humanity Convention (CAHC), important questions were raised, including whether such a convention is truly needed, whether such a convention is politically feasible and whether any provisions in the draft articles should be modified. In this piece, the author considers the questions raised, and poses answers from an African and realist perspective, having litigated some of the international criminal justice cases before South African courts. The author contends that the drafters of the Convention would do well to take meaningful account of the domestication of international criminal justice, and the lessons to be learned from national systems that have found themselves at the forefront of the very debates that have animated the drafters of the CAHC, and the Rome Statute before it. If those lessons are to be taken seriously — including the lessons generated by African states and their courts — then the draft Convention might well be improved and some of its most animating provisions sharpened.

scholarly journals Laying the Foundations for a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 909-957
Author(s):  
Claus Kreß ◽  
Sévane Garibian
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Genocide Convention ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Draft Convention

Abstract How far have we come in laying the foundations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity? The co-editors of this symposium conclude that solid groundwork has been laid and hope that the current momentum will be maintained. At the same time, they caution against a ‘rush to conclusion’ as they see room for considerable refinement of many of the proposed provisions as well as the need for a genuine attempt to address the unresolved questions of immunity ratione materiae and amnesty. At this juncture, it is not easy to predict whether a meaningful new draft convention can be presented without further deepening the divide among states about international criminal justice. But it can safely be stated that every additional investment in intellectual energy and time to arrive at the formulation of such a draft is worthy of the effort. The adoption of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity and preferably one that also updates the Genocide Convention would mark another milestone in the evolution of the international criminal justice system.

scholarly journals Trial and (Potential) Error: Conflicting Visions on Reparations Within the ICC System

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Balta ◽  
Manon Bax ◽  
Rianne Letschert
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
International Criminal Trials

Twenty years ago, the International Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC or the Court) was established holding the aim of placing victims at the heart of international criminal justice proceedings and delivering justice to them through, among others, reparations. Article 75 of the Rome Statute lays out the reparations regime, and, in practice, court-ordered reparations are a means of delivering such justice. Focusing on Court decisions on reparations, our analysis takes stock of all developments before the ICC and attempts to highlight the mismatch between characteristics inherent to the objectives of international criminal trials such as providing accountability and punishment of the accused and delivering justice for victims of mass crimes—the so-called procedural challenges. We also submit that the Court is facing conceptual challenges, related to an apparent misunderstanding of the various concepts at stake: reparations as such and the various modalities and channels of enforcing them. We conclude that although the ICC’s reparation regime may not be the best reparative response to provide justice to victims in conflict situations affected by mass victimization, we suggest that improving the ICC’s approach includes, at a minimum, tackling these challenges.

scholarly journals Constructing International Criminal Justice across Time and Space

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 958-987
Author(s):  
Emma Lauren Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Spatial Awareness ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Temporal Aspect ◽  
Primary Measure

Scholars have suggested that ratifying international treaties and implementing them within national legal systems can lead to the acceptance and (eventually) internalisation of international norms. Likewise, failing to ratify might suggest that states reject such norms. Similarly, ratifying the Rome Statute can be promoted as the primary measure to give effect to the norms protected by international criminal law. This perspective of the diffusion of international criminal justice involves at least three characteristics. First, a temporal aspect, in that states are expected to progress from rejecting international criminal justice toward acceptance over time. Second, it reveals a spatial awareness, including by distinguishing between international and ‘local’ norms and actors. Third, this approach includes assumptions about the movement of ideas across both time and space, or directionality. This article challenges temporal, spatial, and directional assumptions about how states engage with international criminal justice with reference to experiences in Southeast Asia.

Rome’s Legacy: Negotiating the Reparations Mandate of the International Criminal Court

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Sperfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Rules Of Procedure ◽  
Victim Reparations

This article examines the negotiations that led to the incorporation of reparations provisions into the legal framework of the International Criminal Court (icc). Building upon a review of the travaux préparatoires and interviews, it traces the actors and main debates during the lead-up to the Rome Conference and the drafting of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, explaining how and why reparations were included into the Rome Statute. In doing so, the article shows how the reparations mandate was produced at the intersection of a set of different agendas and actors. From this account, it identifies a number of key themes that were at the centre of the negotiations and often galvanised contestations among delegations or with ngos. The article concludes with a fresh perspective on the origin of victim reparations in the Rome Statute and its relevance for understanding many of today’s debates around reparations in international criminal justice.

scholarly journals International Criminal Justice from the Bottom Up

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 293-300
Author(s):  
Stephen Rapp
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Bottom Up

Thank you, Lucinda, for that kind introduction. Congratulations to Sean Murphy on your election as the new ASIL president and on the success of the initiative for a crimes against humanity convention. And thanks so much to Mark Agrast for this great program.

Punishing the Enemies of All Mankind

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 971-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALETTE SMEULERS
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Collective Violence ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
International Crimes

How do we and how should we punish perpetrators of international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide? Is it fair to hold individuals responsible for their role in manifestations of this type of collective violence? Do the punishments issued by international criminal institutions support the usual penological rationales? Do they actually attain their goals? Is the Westernized international criminal justice system the most appropriate means of dealing with mass violence, especially in non-Western countries which might have a different perception of justice? What are the alternatives? These are just some of the questions which Mark Drumbl addresses in this book.

International Courts and Tribunals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Findlay
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Political Interference

Despite political interference and jurisdictional partiality, the formal institutions of international criminal justice are positive development for global governance in their existence alone. The unique aims for global justice enunciated in the Preamble to the Rome Statute are a manifesto for how humanity expects to be protected from atrocity, and where responsibility should lie. As the example of rape in war demonstrates, translating these noble aspirations into trial practice and justice outcomes is often sullied by discriminatory externalities common in domestic criminal justice and exacerbated as the degree of victimization escalates. The lasting measure of the courts and tribunals is not successful prosecutions but rather the satisfaction of legitimate victim interests.

The African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Chernor Jalloh
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
African Union ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
History Of

This chapter analyses the controversies surrounding the work of the African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court. It examines whether the legal justifications offered for the Security Council’s involvement in matters of international criminal justice, as administered by the ICC, match the emerging practice. The chapter reviews the drafting history of the Rome Statute to identify the initial benchmark against which to assess the Chapter VII referral and deferral resolutions and their impacts, if any, on the world’s only permanent international penal tribunal. The chapter situates the ICC within a new post-Cold War global paradigm that is not only concerned with ensuring the collective peace, which is the classical responsibility of the UN, but also ensures that international criminal justice is meted out to at least some of the leaders who foment the world’s worst atrocities.

India, the Rome Statute, and the International Criminal Court

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-482
Author(s):  
Ian Hall ◽  
Renée Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
New Delhi

Abstract Despite its long-standing rhetorical support for an international criminal justice regime, India continues to resist signing the 1998 Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court. This article explores the reasons for this reluctance. It observes that during the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute, India voiced multiple objections to the design of the ICC, to how it was to function, and to the crimes that it was to address. It argues that analyzing the negotiating strategy India employed during those talks allows us to discern which reasons mattered more to New Delhi and what accounts for India’s ongoing refusal to sign the Rome Statute.

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