Consequences of non-cooperation with the ICC

Abstract

The International Criminal Court has been tasked with the prosecution of individuals who have committed the most serious of international crimes; namely War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide and Aggression. Unlike domestic legal systems, the Court does not have an established body that is responsible for arresting suspects and securing their presence at trial and is therefore reliant on the cooperation of States in performing these functions. This cooperation regime is largely successful, with only a few instances of States being unwilling to respond to and cooperate with the requests of the Court. Seeing that non-cooperation from States negatively affects the ICC’s ability to function properly, it is crucial that there are appropriate legal consequences in place to address and punish non-cooperation. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the consequences that States face for failing to cooperate with the ICC. Firstly, the importance of international cooperation between States and the ICC shall be highlighted, with a brief discussion of the provisions on cooperation contained within the Rome Statute. This shall be followed by a discussion on how matters of non-cooperation are handled by the ICC and its associated bodies, with reference to specific cases and decisions on non-cooperation, as well as an evaluation and criticism of the remedies that have been developed to address non-cooperation This dissertation shall also investigate whether it is possible to further develop existing remedies to non-cooperation, or introduce additional remedies in order to strengthen cooperation and address and prevent non-cooperation.