• International law

International law

This document traces the rise of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and discuss the different crimes in its jurisdiction. The authors seek to establish the extent to which the ICC may be expected to play a practical role in the prosecution of peacekeepers in Africa for serious crimes committed while involved in peacekeeping operations.

The authors conclude that the role of the ICC will be limited due to the following reasons:

• the types of crimes over which the ICC exercises jurisdiction are strictly defined
• the jurisdiction of the court is limited by the principle of "complementarity"

Each of these factors is discussed in detail and followed by an examination of the particular problems related to peacekeepers from the United States of America.

The authors conclude with a discussion of further responses to crimes by peacekeepers, which do not involve prosecution in terms of national or international law. The overall conclusion is that the role of the ICC in relation to crimes committed by peacekeepers in Africa will be limited. Although there may be exceptions, serious crimes committed by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in Africa are isolated, and the perpetrators do not possess the necessary intent to enable such crimes to be classified as genocide or as crimes against humanity. It is more likely that serious crimes committed by peacekeepers may amount to war crimes, although it is clear that the ICC is more concerned with war crimes committed on a wide scale, rather than with isolated incidents. [adapted from authors]

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