The right to reparations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

With the Rome Statute for the international criminal Court, international criminal law introduces for the first time the right to reparations for victims against their offender. Article 75 of the Statute creates the right for victims to claim reparations before the court and vests the latter with the power to decide on reparations upon request or upon its own motion. This study aimed to unpack the content of this new right and assess legal mechanisms for its implementation. Specifically, this study sought to establish whether there is any substantive and procedural law applicable to reparation before the International Criminal Court (ICC), how the risk of conflict between national justice and the ICC is dispelled and how reparations orders are enforced. This study found that the ICC Statute created the right to reparations as a principle whose content should gradually be shaped and developed by the Court on a case by case basis. As regards with legal mechanisms of the implementation of the new right, the study found that procedural mechanisms are at their embryonic stage and like the content of the right they shall be developed by the Court. In addition, the study noted that complementarity principle, which governs the jurisdiction of the ICC, should be applied to the right to reparation before the Court. Thus the principle appears as a mechanism to dispel the risk of conflict between national judicial institutions and the ICC. Moreover, it was observed that for effective and efficient implementation of the right to reparations the ICC Statute established a legal framework for the interactivity of institutional mechanisms - the Court, the TFV and States - which play crucial role in the enforcement of reparations orders. Furthermore, the study found that some legal and practical challenges facing the effective implementation of the right to reparation require reviewing the Court’s procedure in order that collective approach may be prioritised in reparation proceedings. It was also observed that the flexibility of the Statute provides opportunities for establishment of a Special Chamber for reparations within the Court for the purpose of complying with the requirements of fair trial. It is expected that the findings of this study will constitute an invaluable contribution to the few research already carried out on this novel topic in international criminal law and inform various actors in the field including judges, lawyers and scholars.