Document Type : Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Criminal Law and Criminology Department, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The International Criminal Court (ICC) provides child victims with special protection. This paper aims to delimit the scope of such a protection in light of the law and procedure of the ICC. The Rome Statute provides substantial protection for children’s rights by criminalizing specific behaviors against children, such as using child soldiers in armed conflicts, or crimes which affect children, including attacking schools. In practice, prosecuting crimes against children is prioritized by the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC. Moreover, child victims are procedurally supported by the Court. They have a right to participate in the Court’s proceedings as both a witness and a victim. Criminal liability for persons under the age of 18 has not been recognized, but their crimes could be prosecuted after this age. Nevertheless, their prior victimhood might be taken into account in determining their sentence as a mitigating factor.

Keywords

  1. A) Books
  2. Arnold, Roberta, and Wehrenberg, Stefa (2016), “Article 8: War Crimes”, in Triffterer, Otto and Ambos, The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary, pp: 503-518.
  3. ??? (In Persian).
  4. Cottier, Michael and Grignon, Julia (2016), “Article 8: War Crimes”, in Triffterer, Otto and Ambos, The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary, pp. 519-527.
  5. Cryer, Robert and Friman, Hakan, and Robinson, Darry (2014), An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure, Cambridge University Press, Third Edition.
  6. Drumble, Mark (2012), Reimagining Child Soldiers, Oxford University Press.
  7. Grover, Sonja (2012), Child Soldiers Victims of Genocidal Forcible Transfer, Springer.
  8. McBride, Julie (2014), The War Crime of Child Soldier Recruitment, Springer.
  9. Schabas, William (2011), An Introduction to International Criminal Court, Cambridge University Press.
  10. Schabas, William A. (2016), The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute, Oxford University Press.
  11. Stahn, Carstem (2019), A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law, Cambridge University Press.

 

  1. B) Articles
  2. Bantekas Ilias (ed.) (2019) “Introduction: an
  3. Interdisciplinary Criminology of International Criminal
  4. Law” in Criminological Approached to International Criminal Law, Mizan Legal Foundation, pp.15-42 (In Persian).
  5. Graf, Roman (2012), “The International Criminal Court and Child Soldiers: An Appraisal of the Lubanga Judgment”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, pp. 945-969.
  6. Moran, Clare Frances (2014), “Human Trafficking and the Rome Statute the International Criminal Court”, The Age of Human Rights Journal, pp. 32-45.
  7. Plattner, Denise (1984), “Protection of Children in International Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, pp. 140-152.
  8. Rodenhauser, Tilma (2016), “Squaring the Circle? Prosecution Sexual Violence against Child Soldiers by their Own Forces”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, pp. 171-193.
  9. Sivakumaran, Sandesh (2010), “War crimes before the Special Court for Sierra Leon”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, pp. 1009-1034.
  10. Smeulers, Alette and Maartje Weerdesteijn (2015), “The Selection of Situations by the ICC: An Empirically Based Evaluation of the OTP’s Performance”, International Criminal Law Review, pp. 1-39.
  11. Smith, Alison (2004), “Child Recruitment and the Special Court for Sierra Leon”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, pp. 1141-1153.
  12. Talbert, Matthew & Wolfendale, Jessica (2018), “The Moral Responsibility of Child Soldiers and the Case of Dominic Ongwen”, 5 March 2018, Available at: http://stockholmcentre.org/the-moral-responsibility-of-child-soldiers-and-the-case-of-dominic-ongwen/.
  13. Zakerhosssein, Mohamamd Hadi (2018), "Thematic Prosecution Doctrine as a Factor in the Gravity Assessment at the International Criminal Court", Criminal Law and Criminology Studies, pp 85-106 (In Persian).

 

  1. C) Documents
  2. Human Rights Watch (2003), Ituri: Covered in Blood: Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northeastern DR Congo.
  3. ICC, OTP (2018), Report on Preliminary Examination Activities.
  4. ICC, OTP (June 2014), Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes.
  5. ICC, OTP (November 2015), Strategic Plan (2016-2018).
  6. United Nations (2011), Justice and Children During and in the Aftermath of Armed Conflict.
  7. United Nations (2013), The Six Grave Violations against Children during Armed Conflict: Legal Foundation.
  8. United Nations (2014), Guidelines Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on Grave Violations against Children in Situations of Armed Conflict.

 

  1. D) Cases
  2. ICTR (29 September 1998), Trial Chamber I, Jean-Paul Akayesu case, Judgment.
  3. ICTR (6 December 1999), Trial Chamber I, Rutaganda case, Judgment and Sentence.
  4. ICTY (26 February 2001), Trial Chamber, Kordic case, Judgment.
  5. SCSL (31 March 2004), Appeals Chamber, Norman Case.
  6. SCSL (28 May 2008), Appeals Chamber, Fofana and Kondewa case.
  7. ICC (March, 2010), Trial Chamber, Lubanga case.
  8. ICC, (14 March 2012), Trial Chamber, Lubanga case, Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute.
  9. SCSL (18 May 2012), Trial Chamber II, Taylor Case.
  10. Benito (10 July 2012), Trial Chamber I, Lubanga case, Separate and Dissenting Opinion of Judge Odio Benito.
  11. ICC (13 July 2012), Trial Chamber I, Decision on Sentence pursuant to Article 86 of the Statute, Lubanga case.
  12. ICC, OTP (10 January 2014), Document Containing the Charges, Annex B.
  13. ICC (June 2014), Decision Pursuant to Article 61(7)(a) and (b) of the Rome Statute on the Charges of the Prosecutor Against Bosco Ntaganda
  14. ICC (1 December 2014), Appeals Chamber, Lubanga case, Judgment on the appeal of Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo against his conviction.
  15. ICJ (3 February 2015), Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia).
  16. ICC (3 March 2015), Appeals Chamber, Judgment on the Appeals against the “Decision Establishing the Principles and Procedures to be Applied to Reparations” of 7 August 2012 with Amended Order for Reparations.
  17. ICC (23 March 2016), PTC II, Dominic Ongwen case, Decision on the confirmation of charges against Ongwen.
  18. ICC, OTP (6 December 2016), Fatou Bensouda, Statement at the Opening of Trial in the Case against Ongwen.
  19. ICC (15 June 2017), Appeals Chamber, Ntaganda Case, Judgment
    on the appeal of Mr Ntaganda against the “Second decision on the Defence’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Court in respect of Counts 6 and 9”
  20. ICC (December 2017, Press Release: Lubanga case: Trial Chamber II Issues Additional Decision on Reparations.
  21. ICC (8 July 2019), Trial Chamber VI, Ntaganda case, Judgment.