Libya complementarity challenge at the ICC
by Beth Van Schaack on 19 Jan 2012 | Comments
No news yet on how the complementarity challenge involving the Libyan situation will be resolved. The Court has now given Libya’s new leaders two more weeks to decide how to proceed.
Incidentally, this approach to complementarity has been controversial, and some academics have argued in favor of a “hard mirror thesis.” According to this approach, where exact crimes cannot be charged, a state should be deemed “unable” to prosecute and thus the ICC should go forward.
As we’ve previously discussed (see here and here), prior to the holidays, a tug-of-war began between the International Criminal Court and Libya’s new Transitional National Council (TNC) over who would prosecute the two surviving suspects of the Security Council referral:
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (son of the deceased Muammar Gaddafi, and de facto Prime Minister)
Abdullah Al-Senussi (former head of military intelligence)
The Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, got himself in a bit of trouble by implying that he was fine with the Libyans prosecuting the two accused. The Pre-Trial Chamber, in an unprecedented move, immediately issued a press release reminding him and the world both that the Court was now seized of the matter in light of the outstanding arrest warrants against the two men and that it would ultimately decide the outcome of the referral. Although the fate of both defendants is at issue, the TNC seems most concerned with maintaining jurisdiction over Qaddafi fils. Indeed, there has been little firm evidence that Senussi is actually in government custody. If he is, he is being held incommunicado as the ICRC has apparently only visited Saif.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FROM INTLAWGRRLS HERE.
Source: IntLawGrrls
