Participation

Victims – those who have suffered harm as a result of the commission of an ICC crime, including both individual persons and organisations/institutions – play an important role in the ICC’s proceedings (Rules 85 and 86 of the RPE). Pursuant to article 68(3) of the Rome Statute, during judicial proceedings, victims have the right to present their views and concerns directly to the ICC Judges, represented by a lawyer. This is a first in the history of international criminal justice. By providing victims the right to participate they can express their views and concerns independently from the Prosecution and Defence; this is important as they may not have similar interests.

If a victim or group of victims lacks the necessary means for a legal representative, the Registry may afford some financial assistance. Victims generally do not have to travel to the seat of the Court and their lawyer ensures that at all stages of the proceedings, their views and concerns are heard on matters where their personal interests are affected (Rule 90 of the RPE).

Victim participation is voluntary and victims have to fill-in a written application which will be considered by the Court. From this very moment, the identities of victims are protected in the proceedings by a pseudonym attributed to them by the Court (for example: a/0001/18) and their names consequently do not appear in the public domain.

Within the Court, the Office of Public Counsel for the Victims (OPCV) provides legal representation to victims throughout proceedings, as well as assistance and support to external lawyers appointed by victims. The OPCV is an independent office and falls within the Registry solely for administrative purposes.

Participation of victims is not without challenges, especially in light of the big number of participants. This requires processing large numbers of applications, a balancing of the interests of victims versus the rights of the accused, and taking into account interests of specific vulnerable groups of victims, such as those who suffered from CRSV. Rule 90(4) of the RPE requires that the distinct interests of victims of CRSV need to be represented when choosing legal representation for this category of victims. This impacts, for instance, on the qualifications of legal representation: e.g. experience working with victims of CRSV; variety of genders who can represent them; attention to having representation from the region/country, speaking the language, and understanding the conflict/CRSV crimes committed.

Sources (a selection):

• Veena Suresh, “The Victims’ Court? An Analysis of the Participation of Victims of Sexual Violnce in International Criminal Proceedings”, Groningen Journal of International Law, Vol. 8, Issue 2 (2021), 244-269.
• Solange Mouthaan, “Victim Participation at the ICC for Victims of Gender-Based Crimes: A Conflict of Interest”, Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 21 (2013), 619-652.

ASSIGNMENT 1

Write an essay on the victim participation scheme before the ICC and how it has been applied to victims of CRSV to date? Is there a need of improvement?

ASSIGNMENT 2

Look up a case before the ICC which dealt with CRSV.

Questions:

(1) How had the participation of victims of CRSV been applied in that case?

(2) Was the participation satisfactory from the point of view of victims of CRSV?

(3) How, if at all, could the participation of victims of CRSV be improved?