This thesis attempts to address perennial concerns, mostly raised in some quarters in Africa, pertaining to the development of the complementarity regime established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It grapples with a very important question, whether the principle of complementarity, embodied in article 17 of the Rome Statute, was formulated and is being applied by the ICC in a manner that upholds the ideals and theories upon which the regime was founded. The principle of complementarity is designed to mediate the imperatives of State sovereignty and a legitimate international criminal justice system. Essentially, complementarity gives States latitude to try genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression nationally, with the ICC only intervening where States are either unable or unwilling to prosecute genuinely. Africa constitutes the biggest regional block of membership to the Rome Statute, however, over the years; support for the ICC on the African continent has waned. It has been argued in some quarters that the ICC is anti-African and that it has interpreted and applied complementarity in a manner that diminishes State sovereignty. The thesis argues that this tension may also be due to textual deficiencies inherent within the Rome Statute, in the provisions that embody this principle. It therefore examines complementarity from a theoretical perspective to provide a comprehensive account of the system contemplated by the drafters of the Rome Statute. In this regard, the thesis argues for expansion of States’ ability at the national level to deal with international crimes without compromising international criminal justice processes or threatening State sovereignty. This is suggested as a way of relieving the tension that has characterised the relationship between African States and the ICC. The thesis further sketches out some of the complexities inherent in the modalities through which the Court may exercise its complementary jurisdiction, particularly within the African continent, given that legal systems in most African countries are particularly weak. It thus dissects the provisions that outline the principle of complementarity in tandem with the Court’s interpretation and application of complementarity in practice. Furthermore, through an exploratory survey of the referral of the Situation in Uganda, and the ICC Prosecutor’s proprio motu investigation of the Situation in Kenya, the thesis illustrates how a positive approach to complementarity can help establish a healthy cooperative synergy between the ICC and States, thereby promoting a functional expeditious criminal justice system. This will go a long way towards assuaging State’s fears that the ICC merely pays lip service to complementarity and arbitrarily supersedes national jurisdiction.

"With the entry into force of the Rome Statute in July 2002 and the election of judges and prosecutors of the Court in 2003, there is need for states parties to the Rome Statute to enact laws to incorporate the crimes defined in the treaty. Currently, 92 states are parties to the treaty. The success of the ICC will depend not only on widespread ratification of the Rome Statute, but also on states parties' compliance with obligations under the treaty. For almost every state this will require some change in national law in accordance with existing laws and proceedings in a given legal system. The experience of most states parties to the treaty is that the Rome Statute will require some form of domestic implementing legislation, even if this is not the normal practice of the state. There is need for co-operation between the Court and state parties on the administration of justice. For the Court to function properly, the immunity of its personnel should be guaranteed and provisions in national constitutions that are incompatible with the Rome Statute should be amended to bring them in conformity with the provisions of the treaty. ... Thus far, South Africa is the only African country that has adopted an implementing legislation domesticating the Rome Statute. Other African countries such as Congo, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal have draft bills. There is, therefore, the need for African countries that are state parties to the treaty to positiviely confront the above challnges while incorporating the provisions of the Rome Statute into national law. ... The first chapter is an introduciton. It sketches the background of the study and reviews the materials that will be used for the study. It focuses on several hypothesis and research questions that the study is set out to answer. It highlights the dearth of materials on the implementation of the Rome Statute in Africa. The second chapter analyses the ICC and the emerging international legal system. It discusses the complementarity principle of the Rome Statute and analysis the crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court. The effect of the bilateral immunity agreements signed by states parties to the Rome Statute with the United States of America is also highlighted. The third chapter deals with the ICC and indernational approaches to the implementation of the Rome Statute. This involves discussions on compatibility of the Rome Statute with national constitutions. Approaches adopted by states with regards to specific issues of implementation will also come into focus, followed by discussions on the amendment of constitutions and purposive interpretation as adopted by various states parties to the Rome Statute. The fourth chapter will discuss implications of the Rome Statute for domestic constitutions in Africa. The discussion will focus on immunity from prosecution granted to heads of state and government by constitutions, the surrender of persons to the ICC and sentencing of persons convicted by the Court with regards to their relationship in the implementation of the Rome Statute in Africa. The fifth chapter will be a comparative analysis of impelementation strategies adopted by South Africa, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There will be an analysis of the relationship between the Rome Statute and African human right system. The last chapter is the conclusion with recommendations and arguments on the need for a comprehensive domestic implementation strategy of the Rome Statute in Africa." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Lovell Fernandez at the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Research has shown that courts and practising jurists increasingly use social work pre-sentence reports. Pre-sentence reports can be requested from probation officers and social workers in private practice. These reports are prepared with the purpose of assisting courts in determining the most appropriate sentence taking into account the criminal, the victim and the community. Worldwide research as confirmed by this investigation indicates that jurists generally regard the quality of pre-sentence reports as unsatisfactory. This research focussed on jurists' quality grading and their pointing out of shortcomings and problems regarding certain aspects of the pre-sentence report. Twenty respondents took part in this research among whom were advocates (some with senior status), regional magistrates, magistrates and attorneys with experience in the criminal court as well as being experienced in employing pre-sentence reports. The aspects of the pre-sentence reports concentrated on is the report format, report content, the discussion of the facts (evaluation), motivation underlying the recommendations, general appearance, use of assessment instruments, presentation in court, as well as skills and knowledge required to write the reports. The respondents were also requested to indicate they prefer the service of either a probation officer or a social worker in private practice. Their preferences are highlighted and discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The principle of complementarity is the cornerstone of the establishment of the International Criminal Court as well as one of the key factors for its successful operation.  Having said that, the qualities of being flexible and adaptable make the task of interpreting the principle of complementarity extremely sensitive and technically tricky.  According to the current wording of the principle of complementarity in the Rome Statute, the ICC could factually exercise primacy over the national jurisdiction, if a loose interpretation of the principle is adopted, or conversely being residual to national jurisdictions, if the principle was strictly interpreted. While the principle of complementarity was at the heart of the negotiating process for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the emerging practice of the Court to date has left the vast majority of the questions on complementarity unanswered, even the few issues which the Court has touched upon are not immune from criticism. This thesis will thus strive, through an in-depth analysis of the past, present and practice of the principle of complementarity and its corollary issues, to offer workable answers as well as constructive criticism.  Guided by the central objective of ending impunity for the core crimes through criminal justice, this thesis, in interpreting the principle of complementarity, will follow a balanced approach which, while unequivocally favours national prosecutions where possible, it adopts a broadening interpretation when national jurisdictions are genuinely unavailable or ineffective.  To this end, this thesis eventually presents the principle of complementarity as a managerial principle which promotes for the effective investigation and prosecution of the core crimes through the adoption of different policies which encourage, <i>inter alia</i>, a division of labour between the International Criminal Court and domestic jurisdictions, and enable states to carry out proceedings and overcome dilemmas of ‘inability’ or ‘unwillingness’ without the role of the International Criminal Court being limited in such incidents to excluding national jurisdiction.

Terrorism as a crime under international law The purpose of this thesis is to assess the possibility of prosecuting terrorist attacks as crimes under international law and analyse the feasibility of their prosecution before the International Criminal Court. The reason for this research is is twofold. First, compared to the international academic scene, Czech research related to this topic is relatively sparse. Second, the international terrorism has grown into a massive issue of international significance and its global aspects leave the traditional national judicial mechanisms somewhat lacking with regards to the efficiency in its prosecution. The author has therefore attempted to examine the possibility of using the only permanent global judicial body available in today's world, the International Criminal Court. The thesis is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of prosecuting the terrorism as an international crime. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic thoughts upon which this thesis builds. It also presents the structure of the thesis with regards to possible issues which may arise during its course. It also explains the reasons for said research as described in the first paragraph of this abstract. Chapter Two is concerned with the term terror and...

The Rome Statute which came to existence in 1998 was a great step forward for international criminal law and its enforcement. Later, in 2002, the International Criminal Court was established in order to prosecute the most serious crimes according to the Statute - war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. Only the first three mentioned were specified in the Statute, while the fourth one was not agreed upon, meaning that the ICC does not possess jurisdiction over this crime. The aim of the Revision Conference in Kampala in 2010 was to incorporate the definition of the crime of aggression into the Rome Statute. Finally, the International Court had to gain jurisdiction over a crime of aggression. However the expectations were not fully met. The states agreed upon the definition which they specified in the Rome Statute; nevertheless the jurisdiction of the ICC has not yet been activated. This will probably happen in 2017 at the earliest if preconditions and triggering mechanisms are completed. The purpose of the thesis The Crime of Aggression and the International Criminal Court is to examine the questions related to aggression. The thesis begins with the historical development of the concept and continues with the most relevant international law provisions connected to...

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND THE HEAD OF THE STATE IMMUNITY The thesis deals with the institute of immunities of the head of the state recognized under the international law and with its applicability before the International Criminal Court (hereinafter referred to as "ICC"). The aim of this thesis is to analyze the conflict between two international legal rules which is the obligation to prosecute and punish perpetrators of crimes under the international law, irrespective of the status of the offender, and the exclusion of heads of the state from the criminal jurisdiction because of the immunity that protects its bearer. According to the Rome Statute (hereinafter referred to as "Statute") which established the ICC its contractual party is obliged to surrender any accused person to the Court even if this person enjoys immunity. However another provision of the Statute says that the request for this surrender could be refused by the party if it broke an obligation which this party has against the state whose national is the accused person. The first chapter outlines the formation and the functioning of the Court. Subsequently, the work deals with theoretical terms such as the head of state, the individual responsibility or the immunity. It provides with the types of immunities a person could enjoy...

1 Summary Crimes against humanity, together with war crimes, crime of agression and Genocide, create a group of so called crimes under the international law. For these crimes it is characteristical that they are so grave and so dangerous that their punishment is a matter of the whole international community. Such punishment for these crimes has already been carried out several times on international level. As an example we can use the tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which are still operating. This thesis deals with crimes against humanity in practice of International Criminal Court. This court, unlike the previous international criminal tribunals, is a permanent judicial institution. The main focus of the research is a substantive law characteristic of crimes against humanity i.e., physical and mental elements of these crimes. The aim of the thesis is to find out whether the International Criminal Court brought some progress to substantive law definition of aforementioned crimes. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter deals with the position of crimes against humanity in the system of the international law. The aim of this chapter is to define the basic terms of the subject and to determine the position of crimes against humanity in the system of the international law. The...

This thesis deals with crimes against humanity and war crimes in the practice of the International Criminal Court, an institution established to prosecute the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole (which include, in addition to the two types mentioned above, genocide and crimes of aggression). Prosecution of these crimes changed significantly from the military tribunals following World War II to the ad hoc tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and finally to the International Criminal Court, which was created as a permanent international institution in 1998 at the Rome Conference and became operational in 2002 after its Statute reached the required number of ratifications. The aim of this thesis is to introduce how crimes against humanity and war crimes have been conceived in the practice of the International Criminal Court with respect to the development of their concept and prosecution by the previous criminal tribunals. The thesis is divided into three main chapters. In the first one, I introduce the topic, specifically the development of the idea to establish a permanent international criminal tribunal as well as its eventual establishment. Furthermore, the first chapter also includes a theoretical introduction to the jurisdiction of the International...

The diploma thesis analyzes the relationship between the Czech Republic and the International Criminal Court. The purpose of my research was to compare the Rome Statute, an international treaty by which the International Criminal Court was established in 1998, with the Czech constitutional and criminal law. The Czech Republic ratified the Rome Statute in 2009. The Czech Republic committed itself by this ratification to provide for international judicial cooperation and legal assistance to the International Criminal Court. It is necessary to realize that a lot of crimes against international criminal law happen in the today's world and many of these crimes are under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The Czech Republic has to be ready to act, if the need occurs, a so it is necessary to know how the Czech authorities would proceed and if all of the obligations under the Rome Statute are possible to be realized in accordance with the national law. For this reason this thesis attempts to clarify the link between the Rome Statute and the relevant Czech legislation. So I have made a comparison of the Rome Statute and Czech legal system and tried to find answers for the following questions: whether the Rome Statute is in accordance with the constitutional order of the Czech Republic,...