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The Elephant in the ICC’s Case Against Bashir: Head of State Immunity

by Julian Ku

Dapo Akande, who seems to know more about head of state immunity than anyone else, has an interesting post on the recent ICC Appeals Chamber non-decision decision in the case against Sudan’s President Bashir. He points out that the Appeals Chamber failed to even mention the question of head of state immunity, which is important in this case because as a non-party to the ICC, Sudan has a pretty good argument that Bashir still has head of state immunity. It is at least a non-trivial argument which would undermine every other issue in the case against Bashir, if resolved in Bashir’s favor. How could it not be addressed? And when will it ever be addressed? I suppose if Sudan or Bashir ever show up to defend themselves. It would be embarrassing if, after all of this, the ICC managed to arrest Bashir only to have its Appeals Chamber decide that he had immunity after all.

March 30, 2010 -- Should the ICC Oppose Sudan’s Election?
February 4, 2010 -- The Standard for Determining Intent to Commit Genocide
October 19, 2009 -- The Obama Strategy on Sudan: How to Downplay the ICC
August 30, 2010 -- NYT’s Kristof: Obama’s Sudan Policy is a Failure
May 25, 2010 -- I Bravely Defend Obama’s Sudan Policy Against Mia Farrow
April 28, 2010 -- The ICC Begins to Fade in Importance in Sudan
April 24, 2010 -- The Emerging Consensus on U.S. Policy Toward the ICC: CFR Issues Report on Kampala
April 23, 2010 -- ICC Prosecutor Wants Security Council Action on Sudan
April 2, 2010 -- A Powerful Dissenting Opinion on the ICC’s Decision to Authorize an Investigation into Kenya
October 16, 2009 -- Obama Will “Engage” on Sudan (And Ignore the ICC)
July 18, 2008 -- EU Promises to Enforce ICC Arrest Warrants
July 16, 2008 -- The Real Reason China Opposes Indicting Bashir
July 15, 2008 -- The ICC Seeks Regime Change in Sudan
July 14, 2008 -- The ICC Is Not the Security Council’s Plaything
July 14, 2008 -- The Case for Indicting Bashir
July 11, 2008 -- ICC Prosecutor To Charge Sudan’s President with Genocide

February 13th, 2010 - 8:54 PM EDT | Trackback Link |

http://opiniojuris.org/2010/02/13/the-elephant-in-the-iccs-case-against-bashir-head-of-state-immunity/

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The Elephant in the ICC’s Case Against Bashir: Head of State Immunity

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