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Search: Complementarity SAIF GADDAFI

02 Jul

...brought to a judge, Libyan judge, he would release her because she has also her immunity and privileges. Nevertheless, she committed a mistake really. I was an eye-witness when she took and surrendered and hand over documents and letters to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. MICHAEL VINCENT: So even though, as she say, she may have made mistakes by handing over these documents to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, these documents relating to his right-hand man, Mohamed Ismail, you don’t think that she ever broke any laws either Libyan or international? AHMED AL-JEHANI: Yes,...
02.07.12 | |

19 Sep

In today’s weekly news wrap, Jessica flagged an article that said Saif was due to appear in court in Tripoli for the beginning of the pre-trial phase of the case against him, al-Senussi, and 36 (!) other defendants. The article was inaccurate, and was later updated to make clear that Saif was appearing in Zintan on unrelated charges — not in Tripoli. Indeed, the Zintan militia holding Saif recently made it abundantly clear that it has no intention of handing Saif over to the central government anytime soon — if...
19.09.13 | |

15 May

As readers know, Dapo Akande, Jens Ohlin, and I have been having a friendly debate over whether Article 95 of the Rome Statute requires Libya to surrender Saif to the ICC pending the Pre-Trial Chamber’s resolution of its admissibility challenge. (See here and here.) Two organs of the Court have now weighed in on the issue, with a rather ironic inversion: the Office of the Prosecutor takes the position that Libya is under no obligation to surrender Saif, while the Office of the Public Counsel for the Defence, which is...
15.05.12 | |

16 Jun

defence team for dusting off the DPT thesis. It’s obviously a tempting argument to make in the context of defending someone who, like Al-Senussi, is facing a national prosecution that will not provide due process. But I am troubled by the fact that the defence motion also claims — incorrectly — that the Gaddafi admissibility decision adopts the DPT. It makes that claim twice, first in para. 147 (emphasis added): 147. The Chamber recognised in the Gaddafi Admissibility Decision that the extent to which the suspect or accused has been...
16.06.13 | |

28 Oct

I have posted a substantially revised version of my essay “A Sentence-Based Theory of Complementarity” on SSRN. The essay is appearing in two different forms. The long version (23,000 words) — the one I’ve posted — is forthcoming in Volume 53 of the Harvard International Law Journal. The short version (7,000 words), which focuses on the new theory of complementarity I defend, will appear as a chapter of the Ashgate Research Companion to International Criminal Law: Critical Perspectives, which is being edited by Bill Schabas, Niamh Hayes, Maria Varaki, and...
28.10.11 | |

10 Apr

be the most difficult for sure. Complementarity: A Step Forward Indeed Must be Taken I fully support Dr. Quackelbeen’s idea that the complementarity requirement must be assessed at the level of the party states, where the crimes were committed. The fact that in Türkiye no investigations were launched is as such not relevant. However I do not agree that there is a need to “address these State parties’ unwillingness and inability to tackle this conduct”, as put forward by Dr. Quackelbeen. The Rome Statute only requires to prove the unwillingness...
10.04.23 | |

03 Aug

...for state actors to pursue domestic accountability in the three countries it considers—Uganda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—but rather for non-state actors to pursue a variety of ambitious governance goals. This paradox has both multiplied the meaning of complementarity—from a legal rule to an instrument of policy—and complicated it. In one context, complementarity can be invoked to displace the ICC; in another, it can become an extension for the Court, meant to “complement” and complete its work. And yet, by design, the ICC often remains at a distance...
03.08.20 | |

24 Jan

of complementarity as long as it results in a sentence equal to, or longer than, the sentence the perpetrator would receive from the ICC. This Article also addresses the most serious objection to a sentence-based complementarity heuristic: namely, that prosecutions for ordinary crimes fail to capture the greater expressive value of international crimes. The Article concludes by discussing less radical alternatives to the sentence-based complementarity heuristic and expresses the hope that, because of increased national capacity to prosecute international crimes as international crimes, such a heuristic may eventually be unnecessary....
24.01.12 | |

06 Aug

...concern for Saif’s wishes on admissibility — how touching! — either Saif’s handwritten statement that leaves no doubt where he stands (the one that the Libyan government prevented him from signing and then confiscated) or the fact that the Libyan government has intentionally denied Saif’s right to domestic counsel for months. But really, the government just has Saif’s best interests at heart! In the end, though, it’s difficult to get too upset at the Libyan government for filing the motion. It has already demonstrated, time and again, that it has...
06.08.12 | |

04 Apr

quite generous in my reading. I want to leave open the possibility that Kenya might eventually satisfy complementarity, because that is the ideal outcome, and I made clear my approval of the new reforms. I also agree that the completion of the reforms may well qualify as exceptional circumstances justifying a second admissibility challenge. But this motion is clearly premature, clearly inadequate, and I think can fairly be described as slippery in its attempt to argue that complementarity can be satisfied without a current investigation of the Ocampo Six. As...
04.04.11 | |

05 Nov

...mere bully-tactics by the US against an institution, supported by all the US’s key allies, that is committed to ensuring rule of law for the worst crimes of concern to the international community. Both the ICC and the US have the same interest in adhering to the rule of law, and there is a simple rule-of-law-abiding solution here: the US must undertake to do complementarity. The UK, faced with the possibility of the ICC proceeding against UK nationals for abuses committed in Iraq has been working hard to conduct complementarity;...
05.11.17 | |

11 Apr

...his ICC trial, arguing that – in accordance with complementarity, which gives states priority to prosecute – the ICC had to defer to the Congolese investigations and send him back to the DRC. At the time, the ICC was more than happy to accept Congolese assurances that the DRC could not and would not prosecute Katanga domestically, even though this was patently untrue since a domestic investigation was already underway. Yet, seven years later, the ICC suddenly rediscovers complementarity to justify the DRC’s renewed (what a surprise!) proceedings against Katanga,...
11.04.16 | |