Side-event “Getting the ICC to a Meaningful Legacy: Challenges and Opportunities in Situation “Completions”

The ICC as a permanent institution does not face the same pressures experienced at ad hoc tribunals to complete or wind down their work. At the same time, however, robust situation-specific strategies regarding how the court will assess that its work is complete in a given situation will enable the court to (a) define and better support the execution of its mandate to provide meaningful justice in each of its situation countries; (b) consolidate its legacy in those countries; and (c) communicate clearly with its stakeholders to inform expectations, minimize disappointment and disillusionment, and maximize cooperation and support. The 2020 Independent Expert Review also recommended the development of such strategies from the outset of an investigation.

Elements of “completion” are already underway at the court. In 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor issued its Policy on Situation Completion, and has since announced the completion of the investigation phase—the first of two parts of the completion process under the policy–in Georgia, Central African Republic, Kenya, and Uganda. The prosecutor has also announced that his office plans to complete investigations in Libya by the end of 2025. Libya is the first situation in which the Office of the Prosecutor has provided advance notice of its intention to complete the investigation phase in a country situation. This provides an opportunity to reflect on the Office’s approach to completion, distill lessons learned from its practice to date in situations where investigations have been completed as well as from other tribunals, and make forward-looking recommendations to the Office of the Prosecutor, and the court more broadly.

Please join us for a panel discussion exploring these issues in the margins of the 23rd Assembly session with:

• Alison Smith, No Peace Without Justice
• Sarah Kasande, International Center for Transitional Justice
• Representative of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor
• Serena Zanirato, Lawyers for Justice in Libya representative

The discussion will be moderated by Maria Elena Vignoli, Human Rights Watch. H.E. Corinne Cicéron Bühler, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Netherlands, will deliver opening remarks.

– Download the flyer of the event

– Check also NPWJ and HRW joint submission on the ICC Office of the Prosecutor draft Policy on Situation Completion