 
Human Right's
First's Role
Implementation
Legislations
and Draft Legislations
Basic
Implementation Documents
Countries Where We Work
Africa
Senegal
Mali
Benin
Niger
Democratic
Republic of Congo
Gabon
Latin America
Peru
What We Do
Our Experts
International Criminal Court
International Justice: The
Wider Context
International Justice
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Ensuring
Accountability in Domestic Courts
Equipping national justice systems to investigate and prosecute
war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide is a crucial element
in the fight against impunity for such atrocities. Human Rights First
( the new name for The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) works actively
to strengthen the capacity of legal systems to deliver justice and accountability
for these crimes.
A Unique Window of Opportunity
Since the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
on 17 July 1998, Human Rights First encouraged countries to become party to the Statute.
At the same time, the process of ratification opened an unprecedented
window of opportunity for strengthening national criminal laws and creating
the domestic infrastructure needed to support the emerging international
justice system. This window may close again once the momentum generated
by ICC ratification has waned.
Establishing a global system for justice and
accountability for gross violations of human rights
Human Rights First believes that in order to establish an effective system to ensure
justice and accountability around the world for the most serious crimes,
each country should develop legislation that:
- Provides the legal basis for
states to cooperate with the ICC
Without such legislation, there would be no adequate
domestic legal basis for states to cooperate with the ICC once it starts
to investigate and prosecute crimes. Since the ICC has neither a police
force nor coercive powers, it would be unable, without such legislation,
to obtain evidence, arrest and detain suspects, protect witnesses, or seize
assets for the compensation of victims.
- Allows domestic prosecution
of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
Legislation is needed in order to provide the legal basis
for national legal systems to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes in their own courts. Because the Rome Statute gives the ICC
the power to strip governments of their jurisdiction should they prove “unable
or unwilling” to prosecute such crimes, governments have a powerful
incentive to investigate and prosecute these crimes domestically. Appropriate
national laws are needed to allow domestic courts to exercise their primary
responsibility to bring perpetrators to justice - a judicial remedy that
has been promoted by human rights advocates for decades.
- Allows for the exercise of
universal jurisdiction
In order to ensure the prosecution of the most egregious
crimes regardless of where in the world they occur or who commits them,
Human Rights First encourages states to introduce universal jurisdiction for the crimes
under the Rome Statute. Such jurisdiction is well established in international
law. The ICC will not have the capacity or the jurisdictional reach to try
all cases when countries with the primary responsibility to prosecute fail
to do so. Universal jurisdiction will then provide the missing link to ensure
effective prosecution of international criminals.
Human Rights First’s
role
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