<p>The first part of this study evaluates the historical events that led to the referral of the DRC situation to the ICC. This includes the background of the conflict and the extent to which international crimes have been committed. Both regional and domestic attempts and initiatives to address the conflict are discussed, with specific reference to peace agreements and restorative justice mechanisms. The second part of the study deals with the prosecution of the perpetrators by the ICC. It examines the approach of the Pre- Trial Chamber to two legal issues, the principle of complementarity and modes of criminal participation as part of the ICC Statute. In this regard, the study makes a critical evaluation of two preliminary decisions confirming the charges against Lubanga, Katanga and Chui before the cases proceeded to the trial stage.</p>

<p>This paper analyses head of state immunity, a traditional rule of international law, in relation to the indictments by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009 against the current Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir. It can be agreed that the doctrine of immunity in international law attempts to overcome the tension between the protection of human rights and the demands of state sovereignty. The statutes and decisions of international criminal courts make it clear that no immunity for international crimes shall be attached to heads of states or to senior government officials. However, the case against the Sudanese President, where the jurisdiction of the ICC was triggered by the UN Security Council‟s referral of the situation in Darfur to the Court, represents the first case where a serving head of state has, in fact, been indicted before the ICC. From this case, a number of legal issues have arisen / such as the questions where the ICC‟s jurisdiction over an incumbent head of state, not party to the ICC Statute, is justified, and the obligations upon ICC state parties to surrender such a head of state to the requesting international criminal court. This paper gives an analysis of these questions.</p>

Abstract not available. / Thesis (LL.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

The ICC, which came into force in 2002, was held up by human rights activists as a force that would transform a culture of impunity into a culture of accountability. However, after five years of activity, the evidence suggests that the Court's effect has been mixed. Its ability to achieve retributive justice, broader reconciliation and restorative justice, as well as to deter future offences and promote peace has been variable, at best. Despite the Court's claim that politics are not its job, political missteps and support are adversely affecting the work of a judicious Court. Using the cases of Uganda and Darfur, this paper argues that the most significant factors impacting the Court's ability to achieve the four aims outlined are its lack of enforcement capacity, lack of international political will, the result of geo-political interests and concerns over the norm of state sovereignty, and lack of attention to political context by the Court itself.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Criminology) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Criminology) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Frankfurt am Main, 2005.

Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa reside na análise dos motivos que explicam a criação do Tribunal Penal Internacional ter ocorrido apenas na década de 1990, precisamente em 1998, sendo que desde o início do século XX já existiam propostas para instauração de uma organização internacional semelhante a essa. Para tanto, são analisados, inicialmente, as origens do processo de internacionalização dos direitos humanos e os antecedentes, tanto institucionais quanto sob a perspectiva dos princípios jurídicos, do Tribunal Penal Internacional. Considerando que as Nações Unidas só voltaram a deliberar sobre este projeto após o término da Guerra Fria, são investigados, também, de que maneira o encerramento desse peculiar conflito, bem como as suas repercussões no âmbito das relações internacionais, influenciaram na retomada e no desenvolvimento das negociações sobre a proposta do Tribunal. Esclarecidos esses motivos, procede-se a uma análise sobre as três fases que compuseram o processo político para a elaboração do Estatuto do Tribunal e culminaram na instauração dessa corte internacional: a inicial, no âmbito da Comissão de Direito Internacional; a intermediária, coordenada pelo Comitê Preparatório, e a final, ocorrida na Conferência de Roma. Encerra-se esta pesquisa discutindo-se os aspectos mais atuais acerca do Tribunal Penal Internacional e os limites da sua criação / Abstract: This research intends to explain the reasons why the International Criminal Court establishment took place just in the nineties, precisely in 1998, but since the begin of the twentieth century there were already proposals for the creation of a international organization like this. In order to accomplish this objective, are analyzed, initially, the origins of the human rights internalization process, and the background, both institutional and from the perspective of legal principals, to the International Criminal Court. Considering that the United Nations just come back to deliberate about this project after the end of the Cold War, are investigated, furthermore, how the end of this particular conflict, including its consequences in the international relations, influenced the resume and the development of the negotiations about the Court proposal. Clarified these reasons, the research is developed with the analysis of the three phases that made up the political process for the elaboration of the Court Statute, and that culminated in the establishment of the International Criminal Court: the first within the International Law Commission, the intermediate, coordinated by the Preparatory Committee, and the final, held at the Rome Conference. This research is concluded by discussing the most current aspects regarding the International Criminal Court and the limits of its creation / Orientador: Samuel Alves Soares / Coorientador: Héctor Luis Saint-Pierre / Banca: Paulo César de Sousa Manduca / Banca: Suzeley Kalil Mathias / Mestre

O objetivo desta pesquisa é realizar uma aplicação da Metodologia da Teoria da Ciência, elaborada pelo prof. José R. Novaes Chiappin, no campo do direito internacional. Essa metodologia procura desenvolver mecanismos racionais para análise e solução de problemas. Tais mecanismos permitem uma melhor compreensão teórica das variáveis envolvidas num problema dado, de modo a fornecer orientações mais seguras para a ação prática. Selecionei o problema da justiça internacional para mostrar como a solução de problemas depende de estruturas teóricas prévias. Mais especificamente, pretendo demonstrar que a criação do Tribunal Penal Internacional representa a emergência do primeiro regime de direito internacional penal, no qual os princípios fundamentais desdobram-se em normas e regras detalhadas e são operacionalizados por mecanismos de tomada de decisão. Diversas outras iniciativas, consubstanciadas em documentos internacionais significativos, já haviam condenado o uso da força nas relações internacionais, afirmado os direitos da pessoa e criminalizado a violação dos mesmos, mas nenhuma obtivera efeito prático satisfatório. Em contrapartida, o TPI apresenta instrumentos concretos para a operacionalização da normativa internacional de direitos humanos. A análise dos documentos constitutivos do TPI à luz da Metodologia da Teoria da Ciência permite identificar a função dos componentes do Tribunal e situá-los com relação ao direito internacional penal como um todo. / The purpose of this research is to make an application of the Methodology of the Theory of Science, created by professor José R. Novaes Chiappin, in the field of international law. This methodology strives to develop rational mechanisms for the analysis and solution of problems. Such mechanisms help to attain a better theoretical understanding of the variables involved in a given problem, thus providing more reliable orientations for practical action. I have chosen the problem of international justice to show how problem solving depends on previous theoretical structures. More specifically, I intend to demonstrate that the creation of the International Criminal Court represents the emergence of the first regime for international criminal law, in which the fundamental principles unfold in detailed norms and rules and are made operative by decision-making devices. Several other initiatives, contained in significant international documents, had already condemned the usage of force in international relations, sustained human rights and transformed their violation into a crime, but none had obtained satisfactory practical effect. On the contrary, the ICC presents concrete instruments to make international human rights law operative. The analysis of the constitutive documents of the ICC in the light of the Methodology of the Theory of Science helps to identify the function of the components of the Court and to situate them in relation to international criminal law as a whole.

Rape and other forms of sexual violence have been used against civilian populations since the advent of armed conflict. However, recent scholarship within the last few decades proves that rape is not a byproduct of war or a result of transgressions by a few “bad apples,” rather, rape and sexual violence are used as strategic, systematic, and calculated tools of war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Rape has also been used as a means of preventing future generations of children of “undesirable” groups from being born. Rape and sexual violence are also used with the purpose of intimidating women and their communities, destroying the social fabric and cohesion of specific groups, and even as a final act of humiliation before killing the victim. In each conflict that is examined in this thesis, sexual violence is used against civilian populations for the specific purpose of genocide.