An effective reparations regime for the international criminal court

• Main Author: Stewart, Fenner L.
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/15247

The "Statute of Rome for the International Criminal Court" is the most significant advancement in international law since the formation of the United Nations. The International Criminal Court has been established primarily to administer criminal justice over those accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The court also has an alternative ancillary power to issue orders against a convicted person to pay reparations to their victims. This reparations regime must be effective if the court is going to have the capacity to help victims in a material way. The best chance that the Court has to achieve an effective regime is to prevent suspects from hiding their assets. To do this, it is suggested that the Court must issue provisional measures at the pre-trial stage to ensure such assets are available for funding future reparation awards. However, it will be established that certain State Parties might object to the court interpreting its power so as to give itself this capacity. It is feared that a potential backlash from State Parties might compromise the court's capacity to enforce any orders that depend upon domestic cooperation. This dilemma creates the setting for the principal argument of this thesis, being that the Court should not only attempt to establish an effective reparations regime, but it must also do so in a way that will avoid damaging its relations with State Parties, which are central to the Court's overall ability to administer justice.