Category Archives: International Criminal Court

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October 14, 2021

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International Criminal Court, International Criminal Justice, National Criminal Law, Rome Statute

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Propriety of Intervention of the International Criminal Court in the Boko Haram Situation in Nigeria

Izuchukwu Temilade Nwagbara Esq

The concept of international criminal law, which became prominent after the second world war with the Nuremberg trials, purports to prosecute crimes against humanity of a large and systematic scale/nature in a furious attempt to end impunity in human relations.[1] As such, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)[2]—the primary treaty in international criminal law—provides that the ICC shall have jurisdiction with respect to the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crimes of aggression.[3] In relation to the Boko Haram[4] situation in Nigeria, crimes against humanity and war crimes are the most relevant as regards the jurisdiction of the ICC.[5] Therefore, this post examines the possibility and the propriety of a prosecution of Boko Haram members in the ICC for their actions which come under the jurisdiction of the court.

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April 10, 2018

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Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, Human Rights, International Criminal Court, Treaties, Universal Jurisdiction

Justice for the Rohingya and Minority Groups in Myanmar

Since August 2017, the plight of the Rohingya people has re-captured the attention of the international community. The United Nations and other parties have been slow to label the ongoing situation in the Rakhine region genocide.  However, recent statements by UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide indicate a significant change in international rhetoric. The current crisis was a result of the alleged attacks by a rag tag group known as the ARSA which occurred in August 2017. The military responded to these attacks which resulted in thousands fleeing. The disproportionate response by the military and various mobs have continued to perpetuate genocide and crimes against humanity resulting in a humanitarian emergency. Continue reading →

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May 4, 2017

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International Criminal Court, Jurisprudence, Special Court for Sierra Leone

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Female Victims Only? Casting Doubt on the Prosecution of Forced Marriage in Ongwen’s Case

Author: Laura Nacyte*

In December 2016, the trial against Dominic Ongwen, a former commander of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), commenced before the Trial Chamber IX of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Remarkably, the defendant is the first person at the ICC to face the charge of forced marriage. The latter was brought in addition to other charges of sexual and gender-based crimes, including rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, and forced pregnancy. Although not a separate offence under the Rome Statute, forced marriage is prosecuted as an ‘other inhumane act’, a crime against humanity, pursuant to Article 7(1)(k). Continue reading →

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December 9, 2015

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International Criminal Court, International Law

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At the court of the naked Emperor: Reflections on the Assembly of State Parties of the ICC

David Hoile

The Assembly of State Parties, the body charged with the management and oversight of the International Criminal Court, is meeting this week in The Hague. It brings together smug western politicians, lawyers infused with their own self-importance, bored diplomats, naïve fresh-faced interns and a slew of excitable, self-righteous human rights activists from a variety of well-funded western non-governmental organisations. Having spent several days in attendance at this annual jamboree and having spent several years closely observing the behaviour of the ICC, Hans Christian Andersen’s tale The Emperor’s New Clothes comes immediately to mind. Continue reading →

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September 29, 2014

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International Criminal Court, Rome Statute

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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Civilians And The Rome Statute

Written by Garima Tiwari

 

More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed in the 50-day conflict in July and August, about 70 percent of them civilians, according to the U.N. Seventy-one Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed in combat and in rocket and mortar strikes. [i]The chief Palestinian Authority negotiator, Saeb Erekat, claimed that 96 percent of Gazans killed in the summer’s Israel-Hamas conflict were civilians, reiterated PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s charge of Israeli “genocide,” and accused Israel of seeking to impose apartheid on the Palestinians.[ii] Continue reading →