By: Remy Kane

Impunity Watch News Staff Writer

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – On April 25, 2024, in accordance with several new policies released recently, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor launched a new Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation. The Policy is the product of a global consultation process that began in October of last year that engaged States parties, civic society, academic institutions, and affected communities.

The goal of the Policy is to fortify the ICC’s application of the Rome Statute’s principles of complementarity and cooperation. The principle of complementarity calls for collaboration between national criminal jurisdictions and the ICC. In essence, while states have primary authority to investigate and prosecute international crimes, the ICC may step in on a case-by-case basis to ensure that these crimes are justly addressed.

The new Policy is aimed toward strengthening the ICC’s relationship with other criminal jurisdictions to serve the ultimate goal of investigating and prosecuting global atrocities. To effectuate this, the Policy proposes a two-track strategy that will promote cooperation and partnership with states as well as frequent complementary action, while remaining faithful to the ICC’s mandate to independently and impartially handle Rome Statute crimes.

This approach reflects the important balance the ICC seeks to maintain between its duties and that of other jurisdictions. If this equilibrium is disrupted, however, the principle of complementarity, which is bolstered by this new Policy, allows the ICC to take action. This notion is forthright in the body of the Policy which states, “if States step up, the Office will step out. But equally, the reverse is also true. If states do not step up, the Office will not hesitate to fulfill its mandate.”

The Policy, which is referred to as a “renewed partnership for accountability,” suggests four pillars for enhanced cooperation and complementarity: (1) creating a community of practice, (2) technology as an accelerant, (3) bringing justice closer to communities, and (4) harnessing cooperation mechanisms.

Each of the new ICC policies launched in recent months have put victims and survivors of crimes at the forefront, and this one is no exception. The Deputy Prosecutor, Mame Mandiaye Niang, expressed that the Policy’s partnership-centered approach stands to deliver more for victims by way of further increased vigilance to global atrocities.

To aid in the implementation of the Policy, the Office of the Prosecutor has established a trust fund specifically dedicated to complementarity and cooperation. Contributions to this fund will support complementarity activities, such as providing information and assistance to national authorities in the implementation of their Rome Statute obligations. Further methods of deepening the ICC’s relationships with other jurisdictions will be supported by the trust fund as well, including a Complementarity and Cooperation Forum and other accountability efforts.

For Further Information, please see:

ICC – ICC Office of the Prosecutor launches policy on Complementarity and Cooperation – 25 Apr. 2024

ICC – Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation – Apr. 2024

Legal Information Institute – Complementarity defined – ND

 

By: Rebecca Pioso

Journal of Global Rights and Organizations, Associate Articles Editor

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – On December 8, 2023, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor implemented the “Policy on Children” to address the worldwide suffering that children face regarding their historic underrepresentation and lack of appropriate engagement with the criminal justice process.

The ICC’s Rome Statue grants the ICC jurisdiction over international crimes involving genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. Article 54 of the Rome Statute mandates that the Office of the Prosecutor devote special consideration to investigations and prosecutions against children. Children have the right to partake in the criminal justice process, just as adults are. However, the ICC has acknowledged the routine failure of tribunals to appropriately include children in international criminal justice processes, which in turn violates their human rights.

Addressing children’s participation in the international criminal justice processes is crucial. Nearly one third of the global population is under eighteen years of age, yet children’s experiences and their key roles within the accountability processes are largely overlooked or otherwise ignored based on misconceptions, stereotypes, and failures to devote appropriate resources to support proper methodologies that account for the specific needs of each child. For example, tribunals traditionally have an adult-centric view which largely excludes children and often stereotype them as a homogenous group, regardless of their unique needs and capacities. Moreover, crimes impacting children are routinely under-reported, under-investigated and under-prosecuted.

The ICC has recognized the necessity of improving the understandings of and adaptation to children’s experiences and facilitating their engagement in the international criminal justice processes. The Court has committed to increasing children’s access to justice by implementing a children’s rights approach. It will ensure that children’s voices will be affirmatively heard in each case and situation that they are involved in under the Rome Statute so that their unique vulnerabilities and the manners in which they are targeted and ultimately impacted based on their status in society regarding their physical, mental, psychological development, and ability to engage with criminal justice process, can be better understood.

The Prosecutor’s new has specific objectives to:

• Remedy the historic lack of representation and engagement of children in the international criminal justice process.
• Bring attention to the viewpoint that crimes under the Rome Statute can be committed against and impact children.
• Ensure that, in all dealings with children, the Office of the Prosecutor takes a child rights, child-sensitive, and child-competent approach that is guided by the child’s best interests.
• Actively adapt and reflect topics including intersectionality, children’s developmental stages, their capacities and abilities.
• Re-emphasize the Office of the Prosecutor’s commitment to building an international community that facilitates effective investigation and prosecution of crimes against children.
• Promote the exchange of knowledge regarding best practices and accountability efforts.

The Policy focuses on recruitment, training, external collaboration, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, with the goal of promoting a more effective and equitable system for prosecuting crimes against and impacting children. The Policy also reflects the ICC’s awareness of their place within a global ecosystem of accountability, and specifically, the Office of the Prosecutor’s commitment to broadening and then reflecting its understanding as to the unique impacts of Rome Statute crimes involving children, and to improving the processes for effectively including children in the international criminal justice processes.

For further information, please see:

ICC – How the Court Works – 2024

ICC Office of the Prosecutor – Policy on Children – Dec. 2023

ICC Office of the Prosecutor – Statement by ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC – 8 Dec. 2023

ICC Office of the Prosecutor – Policy on Children (2016) – Nov. 2016