Victims at the ICC: What
is the Way Forward?
The
following is a guest-post on the future of victims and victim participation at
the International Criminal Court. It was written by Stephen Smith Cody (Director of the Atrocity Response
Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law),Susana SáCouto (Director of the War Crimes Research
Office (WCRO)) and Chris Tenove(a doctoral candidate at the University of
British Columbia).
When the Assembly of States
Parties convenes this week, members will select judges, finalize a budget, and
debate new rules and regulations. Another topic sure to arise is the major
reform of the Registry of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Such actions
don’t make headlines, but they have serious implications for how the ICC operates
and how it relates to one of its key constituencies, victims of crimes. We have
several concerns about how proposed reforms of the Registry might impact
victims’ opportunities to engage with and be heard by the ICC.
The Rome Statute gives
victims the right to participate in judicial proceedings that affect their
personal interests, so long as this does not violate fair trial processes or
the rights of the accused. Victim participation, along with victims’ right to
reparations and opportunities to receive assistance and rehabilitation from the
Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), can enable the ICC to engage victims and promote
justice for them beyond the courtrooms of The Hague.
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