The Launch of the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court Initiated by the UN Security Council
The Launch of the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court Initiated by the UN Security Council

Summary/Abstract: In order to establish the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court two prerequisites need to be met: substantive and legal. First, there must be a crime conducted within the jurisdiction of the ICC. Second, there must be a triggering mechanism that will initiate a criminal procedure before the Court. The ICC’s Statute provides three triggering mechanisms. First, a criminal procedure can be launched by the Prosecutor of the ICC when a situation in which one or more crimes described in the ICC’s Statute appear to have been committed is referred to the Prosecutor by a State party. Second, such a situation can be referred to the Prosecutor by the UN Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. Third, the Prosecutor may act on his own initiative (proprio motu) on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court, received from any source. This article discusses in detail these three mechanisms, concentrating in particular on the second option. In this context, it defines the position of the ICC in the international security system.

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