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Africa and the International Criminal Court: A Judge’s Perspective

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Africa and the International Criminal Court

Part of the book series: International Criminal Justice Series ((ICJS,volume 1))

Abstract

This chapter deals with three issues which have become crucial for the International Criminal Court when dealing with cases in Africa: the admissibility of cases, the immunity of Heads of State and the cooperation of African states with the Court. This contribution analyses the only two cases of inadmissibility challenges that arose up to now namely in the Kenya and the Libya situations in which the Court’s competence under Article 17 para 1(a) of the Rome Statute was contested. In particular, the author examines the practical side of the so-called same person/same conduct test. With respect to immunity, the text concentrates on the Al Bashir case and the possible exclusion of immunity in regard to non-States Parties. The chapter also addresses the lack of cooperation of States Parties with the International Criminal Court, as it occurred with Chad, Malawi and Nigeria in the Al Bashir case, which is deemed to be one of the most challenging obstacles for the Court.

The views expressed in this chapter are not necessarily those of the International Criminal Court.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), 2187 UNTS 3, Preamble, para 10.

  2. 2.

    Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto, Henry Kiprono Kosgey and Joshua Arap Sang and Prosecutor v. Francis Kirimi Muthaura, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Mohammed Hussein Ali, Application on behalf of the Government of The Republic of Kenya pursuant to Article 19 of the ICC Statute, 31 March 2011, paras 45–79 (hereinafter Application on behalf of the Government of Kenya challenging the admissibility of the Kenya cases); Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, Application on behalf of the Government of Libya pursuant to Article 19 of the ICC Statute, 1 May 2012, paras 1 and 68–75 (hereinafter Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi); Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, Application on behalf of the Government of Libya relating to Abdullah Al-Senussi pursuant to Article 19 of the ICC Statute, 2 April 2013, para 1 (hereinafter Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi).

  3. 3.

    Application on behalf of the Government of Kenya challenging the admissibility of the Kenya cases (n. 2 above), paras 2, 5, 12 and 47–66.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., paras 12–13 and 67–79.

  5. 5.

    Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Appeals Chamber, Judgment on the appeal of Mr Germain Katanga against the oral decision of Trial Chamber II of 12 June 2009 on the admissibility of the case, 25 September 2009, para 56.

  6. 6.

    Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto, Henry Kiprono Kosgey and Joshua Arap Sang, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision on the application by the Government of Kenya challenging the admissibility of the case pursuant to Article 19(2)(b) of the Statute, 30 May 2011, paras 52 et seq.

  7. 7.

    Decision on the application by the Government of Kenya challenging the admissibility of the case pursuant to Article 19(2)(b) of the Statute (n. 6 above), paras 64–70.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., para 70.

  9. 9.

    Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto, Henry Kiprono Kosgey and Joshua Arap Sang, Appeals Chamber, Judgment on the appeal of the Republic of Kenya against the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber II of 30 May 2011 entitled Decision on the application by the Government of Kenya challenging the admissibility of the case pursuant to Article 19(2)(b) of the Statute, 30 August 2011.

  10. 10.

    Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (n. 2 above); and Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi (n. 2 above).

  11. 11.

    Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (n. 2 above), paras 42–46; Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi (n. 2 above), paras 136–138 and 156–179.

  12. 12.

    Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (n. 2 above), para 46; Application on behalf of the Government of Libya challenging the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi (n. 2 above), paras 156–161.

  13. 13.

    Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Decision on the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, 31 May 2013, paras 133–135 and 219.

  14. 14.

    Decision on the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (n. 13 above), paras 137 et seq.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., para 204.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., para 205.

  17. 17.

    Ibid., para 208.

  18. 18.

    Ibid., paras 206–215.

  19. 19.

    Ibid., para 205.

  20. 20.

    Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Decision on the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi, 11 October 2013, para 167.

  21. 21.

    Decision on the admissibility of the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi (n. 20 above), paras 294–310.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., paras 297–308.

  23. 23.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Corrigendum to the Decision pursuant to Article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the failure by the Republic of Malawi to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court with respect to the arrest and surrender of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, 13 December 2011, para 18; Schabas 2010a, p. 450; Triffterer 2008, pp. 779, 791.

  24. 24.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Decision on the Prosecution’s application for a warrant of arrest against Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, 4 March 2009, para 41.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., p. 93.

  26. 26.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Corrigendum to the Decision pursuant to Article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the failure by the Republic of Malawi to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court with respect to the arrest and surrender of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, 13 December 2011, para 8 and Annex 1 (hereinafter Malawi non-compliance Decision).

  27. 27.

    Malawi non-compliance Decision (n. 26 above), para 8.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., para 8.

  29. 29.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Decision informing the United Nations Security Council and the Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute about Omar Al-Bashir’s recent visit to the Republic of Chad, 27 August 2010, p. 4.

  30. 30.

    Malawi non-compliance Decision (n. 26 above), p. 21; and Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Decision pursuant to Article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the refusal of the Republic of Chad to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court with respect to the arrest and surrender of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, 13 December 2011, p. 8 (hereinafter Chad non-compliance Decision).

  31. 31.

    Malawi non-compliance Decision (n. 26 above), p. 21; and Chad non-compliance Decision (n. 30 above), p. 8.

  32. 32.

    Malawi non-compliance Decision (n. 26 above), paras 22–36.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., paras 37–43.

  34. 34.

    Akande 2009, pp. 340–342.

  35. 35.

    Cryer et al. 2010, pp. 556–557.

  36. 36.

    Schabas 2010b, p. 7; Gaeta 2009, p. 323.

  37. 37.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the United States of America, 18 September 2013, p. 6; and Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 10 October 2013, p. 6.

  38. 38.

    Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the United States of America (n. 37 above), para 11; Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (n. 37 above), para 8.

  39. 39.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision on the non-compliance of the Republic of Chad with the cooperation requests issued by the Court regarding the arrest and surrender of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, 26 March 2013, para 22.

  40. 40.

    Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision on the cooperation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s arrest and surrender to the Court, 5 September 2013, paras 10–13.

  41. 41.

    Decision on the cooperation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s arrest and surrender to the Court (n. 40 above), p. 6.

  42. 42.

    Prosecutor v. Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision on the cooperation of the Republic of Chad regarding Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein’s arrest and surrender to the Court, 13 November 2013; and Decision on the cooperation of the Central African Republic regarding Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein’s arrest and surrender to the Court, 13 November 2013.

References

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  • The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the United States of America, 18 September 2013, ICC-02/05-01/09-162.

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  • The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision regarding Omar Al-Bashir’s potential travel to the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 10 October 2013, ICC-02/05-01/09-164.

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  • The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Corrigendum to the Decision Pursuant to Article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the failure by the Republic of Malawi to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court with respect to the arrest and surrender of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, 13 December 2011, ICC-02/05-01/09.

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  • The Prosecutor v. Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, Pre-Trial Chamber II, Decision on the cooperation of the Republic of Chad regarding Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein’s arrest and surrender to the Court, 13 November 2013, ICC-02/05-01/12-20.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Ekaterina Trendafilova

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  1. Ekaterina Trendafilova
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Correspondence to Ekaterina Trendafilova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt-Universität Juristische Fakultät, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Gerhard Werle

  2. Faculty of Law Department for Criminal Law, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Lovell Fernandez

  3. Humboldt-Universität Juristische Fakultät, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Moritz Vormbaum

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Trendafilova, E. (2014). Africa and the International Criminal Court: A Judge’s Perspective. In: Werle, G., Fernandez, L., Vormbaum, M. (eds) Africa and the International Criminal Court. International Criminal Justice Series, vol 1. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-029-9_3

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