These crimes constitute crimes against humanity if they are carried out as part of a systematic or widespread attack on the civilian population. Acts of sexual violence can also be prosecuted as a war crime if they were committed in the context of, and associated with, an international or internal armed conflict. This is the case in internal as well as international conflicts. The Rome Statute does not deal with the recruitment of children between fifteen and eighteen years.
Nonetheless, states may be prohibited from recruiting children between fifteen and eighteen years. For example, the Congolese government has signed and ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which prohibits recruitment of children under the age of eighteen.
The Ugandan government has also acceded to the Optional Protocol, raising the legal age for recruitment to the age of eighteen. In addition it has made a binding declaration affirming eighteen as its minimum age for voluntary recruitment. The Rome Statute excludes prosecution of a person who was under the age of eighteen at the time of the alleged commission of a crime. However, it can be a war crime to pillage, starve civilians, or destroy or seize enemy property.
A leader or member of an army or armed group involved in such crimes can be prosecuted. Individuals can become criminally responsible by facilitating a crime.
For example if an individual involved in economic exploitation activities facilitates a war crime, he or she can be prosecuted. Corporations cannot be prosecuted. The Court has jurisdiction over crimes committed after July 1, , i.
Crimes committed before that date cannot be prosecuted by the Court. For those crimes, other solutions need to be found, such as prosecution in the national justice system, in an ad hoc international tribunal such as the International Tribunal for Rwanda, or any other special tribunal such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone or before the courts of a third country where individuals could be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction.
If a country ratifies the Rome Statute later than July , the Court will only be able to prosecute crimes committed after the date of ratification. The Court can prosecute crimes committed in states that are party to the Rome Statute. Uganda signed the Rome Statute on March 17, , and ratified it on June 14, Therefore crimes that have been committed after July 1, on the territory of the DRC and Uganda can be prosecuted by the Court.
Yes, in two cases. The Court can prosecute crimes committed on the territory of a country that has ratified the Rome Statute whether the accused are citizens of that country or another. There is an exception with regards to members of peacekeeping forces though; see below. And, the Court can prosecute crimes committed by citizens of a country that is party to the Rome Statute, whether the crimes are committed on the territory of their home country or of another country.
Since the DRC and Uganda are party to the Rome Statute, their citizens can be prosecuted for crimes they commit in any country. This depends on the nationality of the peacekeepers. If the peacekeepers are from a country that has ratified the Rome Statute, they can be prosecuted. This was decided by the U. Security Council in July , and the rule was renewed for another year in June This exception, however, has not been renewed after June Crimes of such a magnitude are almost always committed by more than one person.
The Court has jurisdiction over those who physically committed such crimes, as well as over persons who intentionally ordered the crimes, incited others to commit them, and assisted others in carrying out the crimes.
The Court also has jurisdiction over military commanders or persons effectively acting as military commanders who failed to exercise control over their forces when they committed such crimes. The Rome Statute applies equally to all persons, regardless of their status.
Government officials are not granted immunity. The Court can prosecute persons who facilitate a crime. For example, if a person knows about plans to commit a crime and gives the perpetrator funds or arms to commit the crime, he or she might be prosecuted for having given this help. The Court is based on the principle of individual criminal responsibility.
It will not try governments and armed groups, but rather individual members of governments or armed groups, analyzing how each one in the hierarchy committed, ordered, assisted, or tolerated the crime.
We do not know how many accused the Court will prosecute in each situation, but it will be a very small number. The Court will concentrate on those who bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes. Each case demands large amounts of resources and time, and the Court will most certainly not be able to deliver justice on all such crimes committed in any particular situation. As a result the Court by itself will not be able to bring justice throughout a country such as the DRC, where more than 3 million people have died as a direct or indirect result of the war.
The International Criminal Court was created to complement national courts. The Court will not begin investigating a crime if the state concerned is already investigating or prosecuting it, or even if the state has investigated it and then decided not to prosecute the persons concerned. This part of the Statute is meant to make it less likely for perpetrators to escape punishment for crimes because their own state is not willing to investigate and prosecute them.
This could be the case if the national justice system has collapsed, totally or substantially. International Criminal Court. The Court can open field offices for investigations in other countries. It can also decide to hold hearings in a place that is closer to the site of the crime than The Hague. NGOs will most often be in contact with the Office of the Prosecutor, but there are also opportunities for contact with the Registrar.
The Prosecutor and his Office gather information about crimes and present evidence against an accused before the Court. Previously an Argentinean state prosecutor, Mr.
In , five of these commanders were sentenced to prison terms. Since , he has been in private practice as a lawyer. During that time he pushed for the prosecution of organized crime and corruption in business and has advised governments and international bodies on controlling corruption in Argentina and elsewhere. The judicial functions of the Court are carried out by chambers. The chambers are each composed of several judges. The Pre-Trial Chamber decides whether the Prosecutor is allowed to start a formal investigation into a case.
The Trial Chamber decides whether the accused person is guilty as charged and if they find him or her guilty, will assign the punishment for the crime and any damages to be paid to the victims.
It also must ensure that a trial is fair and expeditious, and is conducted with full respect for the rights of the accused with regard for the protection of victims and witnesses.
When the Prosecutor or the convicted person appeals against the decision of the Pre-trial or Trial Chambers, the case comes to the Appeals Chamber. The Appeals Chamber may decide to reverse or amend a decision, judgment, or sentence.
It can also order a new trial before a different Trial Chamber. The Registrar has the task of running the administration of the Court and keeping records. The Registry locates witnesses and victims and provides for their protection in participation during investigations and trials. The Prosecutor as well as the judges are elected by the Assembly of State Parties, i. In February , the first eighteen judges were elected, and in April , the Prosecutor was elected.
Under the Rome Statute, any accused person is guaranteed the highest standards of fair trial. Hence, no person can be tried for a crime for which he or she has already been convicted. The accused has a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The accused also has a right to choose his or her own counsel, or if the person does not have legal assistance, to have legal assistance assigned to him or her. The accused does not have to pay the legal counsel if he or she does not have the means to pay. Furthermore, the accused has the right to get a competent interpreter if necessary.
The accused has a right to be questioned only in the presence of counsel, to present evidence, to remain silent, and to have charges proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The Rome Statute also makes explicitly clear that the accused shall not be subjected to any form of coercion, duress or threat, torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The Court can exclude someone from criminal responsibility when that person has lost the intellectual capacity to understand that he or she is committing a crime. The CICC coordinated the input of civil society organizations through Issue Teams that closely followed discussions on particular provisions of the draft statute.
Civil society is credited with some of the most important aspects of the Statute, such as its strong provisions for gender crimes and the independence of the prosecutor. The Preparatory Commission PrepCom was charged with completing the establishment and smooth functioning of the Court by negotiating complementary documents, including the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Elements of Crimes, the Relationship Agreement between the Court and the United Nations, the Financial Regulations, the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Court.
Under the umbrella of the Coalition, NGOs worked in teams at each session to follow the negotiations on each issue and provide their expert input, gathered on a daily basis to discuss the negotiations, produced notes and reports on the sessions for widespread distribution, prepared papers and statements on the substantive issues, met with governments individually and in government groupings, held press briefings and participated in strategy sessions on the ratification and implementation campaign.
Final draft texts of these documents were adopted by consensus by the Prepcom, the final session of which was held from July The work of the Prepcom was forwarded to the Assembly of States Parties at its first meeting, held from September at UN headquarters.
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