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ICC (International Criminal Court)Issue:
Other information: Directors:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent,
permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes
of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes. The ICC was created during the United Nations Diplomatic
Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International
Criminal Court in Rome, Italy on July 17th, 1998. The Rome Statute, as
it has since been named, was and has been ratified by 106 countries.
The ICC is a court of last resort and will not act if a case is investigated
or prosecuted by a national judicial system, unless the national proceedings
are found to be corrupt or biased. The jurisdiction and functionality of the ICC are governed by the Rome
Statute, which students will become much more familiar with as we get
ready for the conference. The ICC is composed of four organs: the Presidency,
the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry.
These four components work together within the ICC and in conjunction
with other semi-autonomous offices in an effort to properly review cases
and decide on the correct course of action for each matter at hand. In all of its activities, the ICC relies on international cooperation.
States, Parties and the United Nations Security Council may refer incidents
or crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC to the Prosecutor.
The Prosecutor evaluates the available information and commences an investigation,
unless he determines that there is no reasonable basis to proceed. The
International Criminal Court provides a valuable alternative to the International
Court of Justice because the ICC can pursue individuals and parties.
Prior to the formation of the ICC, the United Nations could not prosecute
individuals because the ICJ did not have jurisdiction to do so. The choice to switch from the ICJ to the ICC was done primarily for the
benefit of participating students. The ICC is able to commit itself to
more pressing, and often more interesting, international matters. The
ICJ can only mitigate conflicts between states, which often involve petty
border disputes and customs disagreements. With the addition of the International
Criminal Court to the Hope College Model United Nations experience, high
school students will be given a much more complex and enticing topic
to work through. Solving a dispute that involves an individual or a private
party is much more attuned to the courtroom experience that many aspiring
pre-law students are likely to encounter in the American legal system.
Students will be expected to know the rules and regulations of the ICC
prior to arrival, which will ensure an enjoyable, and hopefully heated,
trial experience. 1. Does the ICC have the authority to violate state sovereignty to pursue criminals? 2. What are the facts of the Karadzic case? Is there concrete evidence when dealing with war criminals? 3. When dealing with an individual, should the ICC utilize local legal counsel or should it bring in its own legal professionals to investigate the case? 4. How do court proceedings take place during ICC trials? How do these differ from American criminal trials? http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/cis/mladic/cis-karadzicmladic.pdf An excellent resource is the International Relations and Security Network,
or ISN, found online at http://isn.ch. This is not merely another stop
in a google search, but rather a professional-level, comprehensive information
service administered by the historically neutral Swiss Government. |
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| ©
2010
Hope College | Department of Political Science | 126 East 10th Street Holland, MI 49423 | mun@hope.edu | phone: 616.395.7545 |
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Jean-Pierre
Bemba Gombo 