International Criminal Court Judges engage African Court Judges

Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, and African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) Judges and Registry Officers have rolled out a peer-to-peer bench-marking discussion in a bid to enhance exchanges and deepen cooperation.

In her welcome statement, ICC’s Vice-President Ibáñez Carranza in a statement available to the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema restated the critical understanding of the complementarity between international criminal and regional human rights systems as both work within the same interconnected global justice network.

She stressed the importance of working through synergy to achieve the common cause of ending impunity for crimes committed against humans.

Lady Justice Imani D. Aboud, President of the African Court who is the leader of the delegation explained that the working visit forms part of efforts to increase engagement in judicial dialogue with international institutions and sharing similar or cross-cutting mandates.

Lady Justice Aboud stated that the visit was also to strengthen recommendations from previous engagements to enhance legal knowledge and improve institutional practices.

She said as the only operational judicial organ of the African Union, the African Court has adopted judicial dialogue as one of the key pillars of its current strategic plan to achieve its mandate toward more effective protection and enforcement of the individual and group rights guaranteed in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

She said one legal anchorage of the African Court’s engagement with the ICC is Article 21 of the Rome Statute, which requires all stakeholders of international criminal justice to work consistently with internationally recognized human rights standards.

The African Court’s President and her delegation met with ICC’s Vice-President, Judge Ibanez Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, and Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa – formerly a Judge of the African Court.

The delegation also met with senior officers of the Office of the Prosecutor and Registry of the world criminal tribunal.

The discussion revolved around issues concerning international justice, and particularly questions that arise in the intersection between international criminal justice, and international human rights adjudication such as fair trial rights, use of technology in the administration of justice, as well as reparations to victims.

The two teams also engaged in legal aid, and knowledge management systems which have become key components of an effective administration of justice in the international realm.

In concluding their exchanges, the two institutions committed to enhancing the existing cooperation through positive complementarity; as well as continued operational and judicial engagement.