See the attached abstract below

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is a major landmark in the development of international accountability. Its preamble affirms “that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and that their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and by enhancing international cooperation”. Thus the signatory states were “determined to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes”. The ICC contributes to the fight against impunity and the establishment of the rule of law by punishing violations of international legal norms. Accountability is important for the past and the future of societies. The ICC needs the support and cooperation of the states to effectively perform its mandate. So without ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute the ICC will not have jurisdiction over non-member states, unless referred by the UN Security Council. The Rome Statute does not only create the ICC but it also creates the national jurisdiction of its States Parties as these states have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes. With only five Arab states to date being State Parties to the Rome Statute, it is obvious that the region is underrepresented at the ICC. Despite their positive role played in the creation of the ICC, not ratifying the Rome Statute raises several questions, especially that the majority of states that voted against the Statute were from the Arab region. Ratifying and implementing the Rome Statute will strengthen the Arab states criminal justice system, enabling them to prosecute international crimes domestically and will deter any individual from committing them in the future, regardless his official position. It will also allow the Arab states to have the primary jurisdiction over international crimes and reinforces the entire judicial system. This research will examine the issue of ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute by the Arab states by analysing the reasons, challenges and obstacles of the Arab states for not becoming part of the international criminal justice system.

This thesis examines the relationship between justice and recovery for survivors of sexual violence in the aftermath of armed conflict. Using the case study of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the thesis evaluates whether international criminal justice can contribute positively to victim vindication and restoration. While the historical war crimes tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo have been widely criticised for exercising a “victor’s justice”, this thesis illustrates a discernible shift towards a form of “victim’s justice” that extends beyond the parameters of punishment and proportionality for serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Restorative principles of justice have thus been increasingly incorporated within current international criminal jurisdictions, reflected in victim-friendly legislation at the ICTY and the recently established International Criminal Court (ICC). These developments recognise the significance of justice for victims in the aftermath of armed conflict. (For complete abstract open document)

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This thesis examines the relationship between justice and recovery for survivors of sexual violence in the aftermath of armed conflict. Using the case study of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the thesis evaluates whether international criminal justice can contribute positively to victim vindication and restoration. While the historical war crimes tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo have been widely criticised for exercising a “victor’s justice”, this thesis illustrates a discernible shift towards a form of “victim’s justice” that extends beyond the parameters of punishment and proportionality for serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Restorative principles of justice have thus been increasingly incorporated within current international criminal jurisdictions, reflected in victim-friendly legislation at the ICTY and the recently established International Criminal Court (ICC). These developments recognise the significance of justice for victims in the aftermath of armed conflict. (For complete abstract open document)

Dans le cadre du procès pénal, un minimum de garanties doivent être accordées à chaque accusé. La justice pénale internationale n’est pas exempte de cette prescription, qui est également valable pour les individus accusés des crimes les plus affreux contre le genre humain, comme les crimes de compétence de la Cour pénale internationale. L’année 1998, année de la signature à Rome du Statut de la Cour pénale internationale, a marqué une étape définitive dans le processus de codification du D.I.P.. Le statut se fonde sur des valeurs communes propres à la communauté des Etats signataires, qui ont formellement introduits en droit international l’élément de la sanction et de la responsabilité pénale individuelle, sans toutefois négliger l’élément de la réglementation procédurale qui conduit à la sanction pénale à travers le respect des droits de la défense. Le Statut de la C.P.I. représente l’enveloppe normative formelle qui contient le patrimoine de droits inhérents à l’individu et, en même temps, le texte normatif de garantie sur lequel se fonde le consensus de la communauté des Etats en ce qui concerne la nécessité de combattre l’impunité selon les règles démocratiques du vivre social et de juger et punir selon les règles propres à l’état de droit universellement reconnues. / Dopted on July 1998 by the Rome Diplomatic Conference, the Statute of the International Criminal Court marks the culmination of a process of the international criminal justice, that started at Nuremberg and Tokyo and further developed through the establishment of the ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Rome Statute crystallizes the whole body of law that has gradually emerged over the past fifty years in the international community in this particularly problematic area and guarantees the same rights of the accused that are enshrined expressly in several conventions and treaties. In particular, the Statute of the International Criminal Court provides in articles 55 and 67 that the accused is entitled of a number of rights during investigation and trial. One come into existence the ICC has started a new era for the effective prosecution and punishment of serious violation of international humanitarian law wherever such abuses may occur and by whomever they may be perpetrated. This is accomplished in conformity to the rule of law and in the respect of the rights of the accused.

This thesis deals with international criminal justice, which began to influence international politics during the last twenty years. After the end of the Cold War, a lot of armed conflicts were breaking out. They were accompanied by unprecedented inhuman acts and atrocities. The international community had to find a solution for how to respond to such events. In 1993, the United Nations Security Council acted under Chapter VII of The Charter of the United Nations and decided unanimously upon the establishing of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal's role was to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the Balkans conflict. A year later, in 1994, the Security Council decided to establish another ad hoc tribunal - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which served to punish the architects of Rwandan genocide. Both tribunals sped up negotiations and the decision to establish the permanent International Criminal Court, whose objective is to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and in the future the crime of aggression. Firstly, this thesis analyses the ad...

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) established by the UN Security Council in the early 1993 and 1994 respectively in the wake of mass atrocities commented in the Balkans and in Rwanda are arguably the first truly international criminal tribunals (ICTs). While the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals set up by the Allies to prosecute the Germans and Japanese responsible for atrocities committed during World War II provided some precedent, much of the ICTs’ substantive law had never been litigated. In addition, differences in the circumstances surrounding the two sets of prosecutions meant that the ICTs’ procedural system was effectively brand new. In this context, the role of the ICTs’ judges in progressively developing international criminal law and the international criminal justice system assumes great importance. Since the establishment of the ICTs, a permanent international criminal court and several ‘hybrid’ international courts have been created. Each of these has drawn heavily on the jurisprudence and procedural law, practices and norms of the ICTs. This further underscores the importance of understanding the development of international criminal law by ICT judges. / Studies of factors influencing the behaviour of judges have generally focused either on micro-level factors, primarily the policy position of judges, or macro-level factors, primarily the relationship between States and international courts. This thesis argues that the exploration of factors influencing judicial behaviour on both levels is important. This thesis uses a broad institutional perspective to identify the types of factors likely to be salient influences on judicial behaviour and the way in which those factors operate, in particular the way in which the ICTs as organisations operate to mediate exogenous influences. / The thesis uses a range of data sources, including interviews with judges and defence counsel to empirically explore two micro level and three macro level influences. The micro-level influences explored are judges’ national system and professional backgrounds. The macro-level influences explored are the reliance of the ICTs on States, the need for the ICTs to establish and maintain legitimacy and the broader expectations directed towards war crimes tribunals. / The thesis findings show that exploring both the micro and macro-levels provide important insights into judicial behaviour at the ICTs. The findings on the influence of the micro-level factors explored in the thesis reveal that both national system background and professional background do influence some aspects of judicial behaviour. The findings also suggest the importance of understanding the process of institutionalisation when exploring judicial behaviour and the organisational factors that facilitate or impede this. The findings on the influence of the macro-level factors explored in the thesis suggest that each of these factors do influence judicial behaviour at the ICTs in certain ways, but that the level to which the factors influence behaviour is context-contingent.

L’identification et l’examen des différentes facultés de poursuite des chefs d’État en droit international enregistrent de nombreuses mutations intervenues dans le système de protection que leur reconnaît le droit international. Réelles ou apparentes, ces mutations marquent une forme de rupture avec l’illusion qui fait croire que le souverain est irresponsable. En effet, depuis le XXe siècle, et de façon plus significative depuis le XXIe siècle, l’implication des détenteurs de l’autorité de l’État dans la commission de nombreuses atrocités a introduit des variables dans le régime des immunités, rendant ainsi possible leur mise en accusation sur le fondement du principe de non-immunité. Celle-ci peut être ouverte, pour crimes graves, devant certaines juridictions pénales internationales, dont la plus emblématique est la Cour pénale internationale, ou par le biais de mécanismes ambitieux, comme la compétence universelle, et innovants, comme les juridictions mixtes. Toutes ces institutions pénales constituent, en fait, des pôles d’évaluation du principe de non-immunité. La mise en cause des gouvernants pour corruption ou crimes économiques et financiers est considérée par le sujet, même si l’état du droit en la matière est plus modeste. Il faut donc imaginer à cet égard, de lege feranda, une contribution de l’irresponsabilité au développement de la responsabilité pour crime de «vol contre l’humanité». Dans l’ensemble, on ne saurait négliger l’important rôle joué par les règles du droit international humanitaire ainsi que par la montée en puissance d’une certaine éthique mondiale dans la gestion du pouvoir d’État. Mais en toutes ces matières, la mise en œuvre de la responsabilité pénale des chefs d’État recèle d’importantes difficultés, cristallisées notamment par les débats autour de l’équité, la légitimité et de l’universalité de la justice pénale internationale ainsi que de la coopération des États. Aussi, l’idée d’une certaine évolution du droit des immunités pénales devant les juridictions internationales (Partie 1) et celle d’une évolution aléatoire devant les juridictions internationalisées et nationales étrangères (Partie 2) retiennent particulièrement l’attention. Au demeurant, entre l’effet d’annonce que la qualité officielle de chef d’État n’exonère en aucun cas de la responsabilité pénale et le droit vivant, il existe un hiatus qui fait dire que l'évolution du droit international n'a pas radicalement entamé le "pronostic" vital" des immunités pénales. / The identification and the scrutiny of the prosecutions of heads of State in international law show that there have been many developments in the system of protection that international law grants them. Real or apparent, these developments represent a type of break with the illusion that allows us to believe that the sovereign is irresponsible. Indeed, during the 20th century, and in a more significant way in the 21st century, the involvement of high-ranking state officials in the commission ofnumerous atrocities has introduced variables into the immunities system, allowing for their indictment on the basis of the principle of non-immunity. So, they can be indicted, for serious primes, by international criminal jurisdictions, the most symbolic of which is the International Criminal Court, or by means of ambitious mechanisms such as universal, or even innovative as mixed jurisdictions. All of them provide, in fact, grounds for evaluating the principle of non-immunity. The indictment of high-ranking state officials for corruption or economic and financial crimesis considered, even if the scope of the law is more modest. It is thus necessary to imagine in this respect, de lege feranda, that the irresponsibility of heads of State may contribute to the development of the responsibility for “Theft Crimeagainst Humanity”. Overall, the important role played by humanitarian international law as well as by the increase in agreed ethics in the management of State power cannot be neglected. But in all these subjects, the implementation of the criminal responsibility of heads of State presents significant challenges, crystallized in particular by the debates around the equity, the legitimacy and the universality of the international criminal justice system aswell as the cooperation from States. So, the idea of a certain evolution of the law of criminal immunities before the international jurisdictions (Part 1) and that of a random evolution before the internationalized and foreign national jurisdictions (Part 2) particularly holds our attention. Finally, between the announcement that the official capacity as a head of State can in no case exempt them from criminal responsibility and the living law, there is a hiatus which can make us think that the evolution of international law has not radically affected the criminal immunities.

Selon la lecture classique du principe de complémentarité, le Statut de Rome confère à la CPI une fonction purement supplétive : elle n’a vocation à intervenir que si l’ordre juridique national, ayant la compétence prioritaire sur le crime international, est défaillant. La présente thèse part de l’insuffisance de cette lecture et propose d’élargir la définition de la complémentarité pour la fonder sur l’idée d’interaction et de partenariat des ordres juridiques international et national, et, ce faisant, plaide pour une reconstruction de la justice pénale internationale s’appuyant sur une nouvelle répartition du contentieux des crimes internationaux à la fois légitime et efficace. À cette fin, dans l’ordre international, l’auteur préconise, d’un côté, d’instaurer une primauté sélective de la CPI pour les hauts dirigeants étatiques ayant conçu et dirigé le dessein criminel, et d’un autre côté, pour le contentieux ne concernant pas ces auteurs, d’impulser une nouvelle dynamique de complémentarité qui permettrait d’associer l’État à la procédure menée par la CPI, grâce à une dissociation des phases du procès (dissociation enquête/poursuite ou jugement sur la culpabilité/prononcé de la peine). Dans l’ordre étatique, il conviendrait de renforcer la mise en œuvre de deux perspectives conjointes : d’une part, devrait être confortée la restauration de la paix sociale grâce à des commissions de vérité inspirées de la théorie de justice restaurative ; d’autre part, devraient être diversifiés les mécanismes de lutte contre l’impunité consistant à recourir à la justice accélérée (plaidoyers de culpabilité, pratiques ancestrales) ainsi qu’à la technique des juridictions hybrides. / According to the traditional understanding of the principle of complementarity, the Rome Statute gives the ICC a purely auxiliary function: it should intervene only if the national judicial system, which enjoys jurisdictional priority to prosecute international crimes, has failed. The thesis draws away from this unsatisfactory reading. It suggests expanding the definition of complementarity to base it on the concept of interaction and partnership between the international and the national legal orders. In doing so the thesis calls for a new distribution of international criminal cases that would be both legitimate and effective. It would be the foundation to rebuild international criminal justice. To this end, at the international level, the author recommends to establish the selective primacy of the ICC to prosecute senior state leaders who conceived and directed the criminal plan, whereas new dynamics of complementarity are suggested to judge the other perpetrators. It would involve the State in the proceedings conducted by the ICC, by dividing the stages of the trial (dissociation of the investigation/prosecution or judgment/sentencing). At the national level, the author recommends to strengthen two joint approaches. On the one hand, the restoration of social peace should be strengthened through truth commissions inspired by the restorative justice theory. On the other hand, the diversity of the mechanisms to fight impunity such as expeditious procedures (guilty pleas, traditional practices) and the use of hybrid courts should be fostered.