Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in International Law, Department of Public and International Law, zanjan branch, islamic azad university, zanjan

2 Assistant Prof, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Allameh Tabatabaei, Tehran , Iran

3 Assistant Prof, Department of International Law, Department of Public and International Law, zanjan branch, islamic azad university, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The term "interests of justice" in articles 53(1)(c), and (2)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is one of the most controversial ambiguities in the statute. Some argue that this term should be interpreted extensively and include spheres such as the "interests of peace" and "amnesty", etc. Others, on the other hand, believe that a restrictive interpretation, within the criteria set out in article 53, is correct. Considering that the severity of crimes committed in Afghanistan by the warring parties is substantial and has had profound effects on the victims, the ICC prosecutor called for an investigation into the crimes committed in that country, but the ICC pre-trial chamber rejected the request, citing the interests of justice. Subsequently, the Appeals Chamber authorized the prosecutor to conduct an investigation by rejecting the arguments given by the pre-trial chamber. In this paper, we intend to define and explain the concept of interests of justice as set out in article 53 of the ICC Statue, and then analyze and review the situation in Afghanistan in view of the criteria provided in article 53(1)(c), and (2)(c) as well as the considerations taken into account by the ICC pre-trial chamber.

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) BOOK
    2. Mark A. Drumbl (2007). Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. De souza dias, talita (2017). Interests of justice’: Defining the scope of Prosecutorial discretion in Article 53(1)(c) and (2)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Leiden Journal of International Law, 30(3), 731-751.
    3. Durvdevic, z. (2016). legal and political limitations of the ICC enforcement system: blurring the distinctive features of the criminal court. in: Bruce Ackerman, Kai Ambos, Hrvoje Sikirić (ur.), Visions of justice, Berlin: Duncker & Humbolt, 163.-198.
    4. Keeffe, T. E. (2020). Trump Administration v. ICC. Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Dol: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12904.01289/1, 1-9.
    5. Levine, E. (2011). amicus curiae in international investment arbitration: the implications of an increase in third-party participation. berkeley journal of international law, 29, 200-224.
    6. Markovic, M. (2005). In the Interests of Justice: A Critique of the ICTY Trial Court's Decision to Assign Counsel to Slobodan Milosevic. Georgetown journal of legal ethics, 18, 947-958.
    7. Monique, C. (2018). can the ICCexercise jurisdiction over US nationals for crimes committed in the Afghanistan Situation?. ournal of International Criminal Justice, 16(5), 1043–1062.
    8. Rossetti, L. P. (2019). The Pre-Trial Chamber’s Afghanistan Decision: A Step Too Far in the Judicial Review of Prosecutorial Discretion?. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 17(3), 585–608.
    9. Stahn, C., & Nerlich, V. (2008). The International Criminal Court and Co-operation:Introductory Note. Leiden Journal of International Law, 2, 429-430.
    10. Webb, P. (2005). The ICC Prosecutor's Discretion Not to Proceed in the 'Interests of Justice criminal law quarterly, 50, 305-348.
    11. Wenqi, Z. (2006). on co-operation by states not party to the international criminal court. international review of the red cross, 88(861), 87-110.

     

    1. C) Website
    2. Volqvartz, Josefine (2005). ICC under Fire over Uganda Probe. Global Policy Forum, available at: https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/164/28501.html

     

    1. D) Thesis
    2. Rashid, Farid Mohammed (2016). "the role of the prosecutor in the international criminal court: discretion, legitimacy, and the politics of justice", the degree of doctor of philosophy, royal docks school of business and law east london university.

     

    1. E) Other
    2. Cambodia, uneted nations, Agreement Between The United Nations and The Royal Government of Cambodia Concerning the Prosecution Under Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, june 6, 2003, available at: https://treaties.un.org/pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=080000028007c9d0
    3. EUR 45/040/1999, Pinochet Case, UK: Chile’s request to release Pinochet on health grounds: a medical and judicial matter, 19 oct 1999, available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur45/040/1999/en/
    4. Human Rights Watch, The Meaning of ‘The Interests of Justice’ in Article 53 of the Rome Statute, 1 June 2005, available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/06/01/meaning-interests-justice-article-53-rome-statute.
    5. ICC, Press Release, ICC judges reject opening of an investigation regarding Afghanistan situation, ICC-CPI-20190412-PR1448, 12 Apr 2019, https://www.icc-cpi.int//Pages/item.aspx?name=pr1448
    6. ICTR, Prosecutor v. Akayesu, case No. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 Sep 1998, available at: https://unictr.irmct.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-96-4/trial-judgements/en/980902.pdf
    7. ICC-02/17-7-Red, Pre-Trial Chamber III, Public redacted version of “Request for authorisation of an investigation pursuant to article 15”, 20 Nov 2017, available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2017_06891.PDF
    8. ICC, OTP, Report on Preliminary Examination Activities, 14 Nov 2016, Available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/161114-otp-rep-pe_eng.pdf
    9. ICC, OTP, Paper on Some Policy Issues before the Office of the Prosecutor, 2003, Available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/1fa7c4c6-de5f-42b7-8b25-60aa962ed8b6/143594/030905_policy_paper.pdf
    10. ICC, Rules of Procedure and Evidence, 2002. Available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/Publications/Rules-of-Procedure-and-Evidence.pdf
    11. ICJ Reports, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. the United States of America), Merits, Judgment, 1986.
    12. OTP, Policy Paper on the Interests of Justice, 2007, available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/772c95c9-f54d-4321-bf09-73422bb23528/143640/iccotpinterestsofjustice.pdf
    13. ICC, Resolution ICC-ASP/18/Res.1, 2019, Availbale at: https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP18/ICC-ASP-18-Res1-ENG.pdf
    14. Regulations of the Office of the Prosecutor, ICC-BD/05-01-09, entered into Force on 23 Apr 2009.
    15. U.N. General assembly, A/70/600, Second performance reports for the biennium 2014-2015 and proposed budgets for the biennium 2016-2017 of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Residual Mechanism (IRM) for Criminal Tribunals, 2015, Available at: https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/600
    16. Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Appendix II, Attachment, U.N. Doc. S/2002/246.
    17. Statute of international criminal court. 1998.
    18. The geneva conventions of 12 august 1949.
    19. UNAMA, Treatment of Conflict­Related Detainees in Afghan Custody, 2011. Available at: https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/october10_2011_unama_detention _full-report_eng.pdf
    20. UNAMA, annual report 2015, protection of civilians in armed conflict, 2016. Available at: https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/protection_of_civilians_in_armed _conflict_annual_report_8feb_2016.pdf
    21. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969.

     

    Croatian

    - Članak

    1. Skaric, marissabdll (2007). "Posebnosti ovlasti tužitelja međunarodnog kaznenog suda da u interesu pravde odustane od istrage i kaznenog progona (»l. 53. rimskog statuta)", Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu, broj 3, pp. 577-601.

     

    References in Persian:

    1. A) Books
    2. Norouzi, M. (2014). Sanction of decisions international criminal court, First Edition, Tehran: majd (In Persian).

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. Bahri khiyavi, B., & paknejad, A. (2020). The role of NGOs in the format of a Amicus Curiae before international judicial authorities. international journal of nations research, 5(53), 115-128 (In Persian).
    3. Delkhosh, A. (2011). Commitment of states to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (general regulations). public law, 32, 113-172 (In Persian).
    4. Kosha, S., Tahmuresi, E. & Sohanian, F. (2019). Judicial Procedure of International Criminal Court for Selecting Referral Cases and Realizing Justice. public law studies quarterly, 49(2), 351-367 (In Persian).
    5. Lal Alizadeh, M. (2015). Comparative study of victims' participation in special international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Comparative law review, 6(2), 733-792 (In Persian).
    6. Mousavi fard, S. V., & Niknam, M. R. (2016). Procedures of states in cooperation with the International Criminal Court. 3rd. international conference on moderm research in management, economics & humanities, Georgia, saramad institute, kare conference, 2016. https://www.civilica.com/Paper-ICMEH03-ICMEH03_250.html (In Persian).
    7. Mirabbasi, S. B., & Mohammadi, A. (2017). The role and function of international Non-Governmental Organizations as a "Friend of the Court" in the international system of disputes settlement. public law studies quarterly, 46(4), 753-769 (In Persian).
    8. Norouzi, M. (2017). International responsibility of states for non-implementation of decisions of the International Criminal Court. international journal of nations research, 2(22), 17-31 (In Persian).