V International Criminal Court
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411002800108 |
| Author | Desislava Stoitchkova |
| Published date | 01 March 2010 |
| Date | 01 March 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 28/1 (2010) 107
V InteRnAtIonAl CRIMInAl CoURt
D S*
1. INTRODUCTION
e period bet ween April and December 20 09 marked several notewort hy junctures
for the ICC . In Katanga, an attempt on the part of the Defence to challenge the
admissibility of the case failed.1 e judiciary accepted the validity of express
‘waivers of complementarity ’,2 even where motivated by polit ical unwi llingness to
prosecute at t he domestic level, positioning t hem within the ‘inaction’ stipulation of
Article 17.3 Nonetheless, it was caref ul to point out that, depending on t he particular
circumstances , the Court mig ht decide not to act upon a State’s relinquishment in
its favour. Such a n approach, according to t he Appeals Chamber, would strike a fai r
balance between the obligation of States to exercise their crimina l jurisdiction over
international crimes and the goal of the Rome Statute to ‘put an end to impunity’.4
Trial proceedings against Germai n Katanga and Mat hieu Ngudjolo Chui opened on
24 November 2009.
Amid the controversy surrounding the outsta nding warrant for the arrest of
Omar Al Ba shir – the President of Sudan – and mounting expectat ions to eectively
address the Darfur situation, on 7 May 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I issued
summons ordering the appe arance of Bahr Idriss Abu Ga rda before the ICC.5 As the
commander of an armed opposition group engaged in violence agai nst government
forces in Darfur, Abu Garda allegedly directed an attack on 29 Septembe r 2007 in
* Ph.D Candidat e, Willem Pompe Instit ute of Cr iminal L aw and Cr iminology, Utre cht University,
the Netherland s.
1 Prosecutor vs Germain Kat anga and Mathieu Ngu djolo Chui, Reason s for the Oral De cision on the
Motion C hallenging the Ad missibility of t he Case (Article 19 of the Stat ute), ICC-01/04–01/07–
1213-tENG, 16 Ju ne 2009; a nd Judgment on the Appeal of Mr Ger main Katang a against the Oral
Decision of Tria l Chamber II of 12 June 200 9 on the Admis sibility of t he Case, ICC- 01/01–04/07–
1497, 25 September 2009.
2 A term adopted by the Defence in its Motion .
3 Judgment on the Appeal of Mr Germain Kat anga against t he Oral Decision of Trial Chamber I I of
12 June 2009 on the Ad missibility of the C ase, supra note 1, para . 78.
4 Ibidem, paras 85–86.
5 Prosecutor vs Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, Summons t o Appear for Bahr Idriss Abu Gard a, ICC-02/05–
02/09–2, 7 May 2009.
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