Proposals to improve the international criminal court’s cooperation regime

Abstract

This dissertation examines the role that the International Criminal Court plays in international law, considering, in particular, the role that the ICC’s cooperation regime plays. This study commences with an overview of the ICC situated in the Hague which began its work in 2003 governed by a treaty known as the Rome Statute. The ICC is the first and the only permanent court having jurisdiction over international crimes, and it is a complementary court meaning that States have the principal competence when it comes to the investigation and prosecution of international crimes. Despite the Court being an extraordinary judicial institution it has one major shortcoming which hinders its main purpose and that is the lack of enforcement mechanisms the ICC has. Consequently, the ICC relies on State cooperation. The ICC’s cooperation regime faces criticism on multiple fronts and this is why the main focus of this dissertation shifts onto analysing the vulnerabilities of the ICC’s cooperation regime. Through an analysis of the principles of trials in absentia and complementarity, as well as a jurisprudential analysis this dissertation highlights the weakest points in the cooperation regime of the ICC. This dissertation establishes that whilst the ICC is a fundamental Court, the weak cooperation regime that exists between States and this judicial institution sets back the important work that the same Court should be doing. In this respect, in the final Chapter of this dissertation, ways to strengthen and make more viable the ICC’s cooperation regime are proposed to ensure effective cooperation as well as execution of further arrest warrants, ensuring international peace and security.