How to reconcile the African Union and the International Criminal Court

Abstract

Like the African Union (AU), the first permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2012. Since the Court opened its doors to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, 122 states have ratified the Rome Statute, the Court's constitutive treaty. Despite the prominent absence of, among others, the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel and Saudi-Arabia, 18 cases in 8 situations have been brought before the Court. Two of these situations were initiated proprio motu by the Prosecutor (Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire), four others were referred to the Court by individual States Parties to the Rome Statute (Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], the Central African Republic [CAR] and Mali and two situations were referred by the Security Council to the Court although the two concerned states have not ratified the Rome Statute (Darfur/Sudan and Libya).