A FEW DAYS ago I discussed the nature and character of amnesty because it is one of the most highlighted and sought-after topics these days.
Another topic given so much focus is the withdrawal of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Someone e-mailed and asked me to discuss the structure and jurisdiction of the ICC. She wanted to have a better understanding of the ICC and if it really helps the Philippines.
The ICC is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. Its purpose is to complement existing national judicial systems. It exercises its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met. One of these is when national courts are unwilling to prosecute criminals.
The ICC is governed by an Assembly of States Parties. This is made up of states which are party to the Rome Statute. It elects officials of the Court, approves its budget, and adopts amendments to the Rome Statute.
The Court has four organs. These are the Presidency, The Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry.
As to the jurisdiction of the Court, it requires several criteria that should exist in a particular case before an individual can be prosecuted by the Court. The Statute contains requirements for jurisdictional and admissibility purposes.
As stated in the Rome Statute, these requirements are the following: subject-matter jurisdiction; territorial or personal jurisdiction, and temporal jurisdiction.
The primary crimes are listed in Article 5 of the Statute: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. In addition, there are also offences against the administration of justice.
For an individual to be prosecuted there should be territorial jurisdiction or personal jurisdiction. Therefore, an individual can only be prosecuted if he or she has either committed a crime within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court and committed a crime while a national of a state that is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court.
These are just few details regarding the ICC. I hope I was able to enlighten the e-mail sender vis-à-vis whether this administration is playing its cards right./PN
