The complementary relationship between the statute of the international criminal court and national criminal laws : is the court truly complementary to national jurisdiction?

Abstract EN

The Statute of the International Criminal Court complements national laws in respect of serious international crimes.

This is underlined by articles 1 and 17 of the Statute.

Yet, the practice of the International Criminal Court (ICC) shows that international crimes may be prosecuted in certain cases while other cases are excluded on the ground that the conditions for legal prosecution under the Statute are not satisfied.

Hence, a question arises as to whether the Statute constitutes an objective and actual complement to national laws or a possible supplement depending on international economic and political relations.

The analysis shows that there are various substantive and procedural legal obstacles which render such complementary relationship meaningless.

Some of these obstacles relates to the power given to the Security Council in respect of deciding whether to refer cases to the ICC or not.

Others obstacles relate to the prosecution power in deciding whether to initiate criminal investigation or not, and many other obstacles considered in this paper.