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The Prosecutor’s Request Concerning the Rohingya Deportation to Bangladesh: Certain Procedural Questions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2018

MICHAIL VAGIAS
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Abstract

On 9 April 2018, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed a request seeking the composition of a Pre-Trial Chamber, in order to decide whether the Court has territorial jurisdiction over the Rohingya deportation from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a crime against humanity. This filing is a first for the Court on at least two fronts; it is the first time the Prosecutor has asked the Court to interpret Article 12(2)(a) and apply qualified territoriality; it is also the first time the Prosecutor has asked for a ruling on jurisdiction under Article 19(3).

This study explores certain procedural questions emerging from this request, such as the Court’s authority to decide while its jurisdiction is ‘dormant’; the function of Article 19(3) within the Rome Statute’s overall system concerning jurisdictional determinations; issuing a decision on jurisdiction, while avoiding prejudice to subsequent proceedings and without rendering meaningless the right to challenge jurisdiction under Article 19(2) of the Statute. The article accepts that the request is a step in the right direction, as it signals the Prosecutor’s determination to investigate the Rohingya crisis. However, the manner and timing of its presentation give rise to plausible claims of incompatibility with the Court’s procedural framework. Arguably, the Court may well instruct the Prosecutor to assume the risk of wasting precious resources and proceed with further investigations, pending the final determination of the jurisdictional question at a later stage.

Keywords

BangladeshjurisdictionMyanmarRohingyaterritory
Type
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS
Information
Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 981 - 1002
Copyright
© Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 2018 

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Footnotes

*

Ph.D., LL.M. (adv.) (Hons.); Senior Lecturer in Law, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Public Management, Law and Safety [m.vagias@hhs.nl].

The article benefited greatly from the excellent remarks of the anonymous reviewers, for which I am very grateful. Moreover, I gratefully acknowledge the valuable discussions with and remarks of Gérardine Goh-Escolar and Marina Lostal. The Research Fund of the Platform ‘Good Governance for a Safe and Secure World’ of The Hague University of Applied Sciences provided financial support for the preparation of this article. All errors are my own.

References

1 Application under Regulation 46(3), Prosecution’s Request for a Ruling on Jurisdiction under Article 19(3) of the Statute, ICC-RoC46(3)-01/18-1, 9 April 2018 (hereinafter: ‘the request’).

2 Ibid., para. 3.

3 Ibid., para. 2.

4 Art. 19 (3) of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 37 ILM 999 (1998) (hereinafter ‘the Statute’ or ‘RS’).

5 Decision assigning the ‘Prosecution’s Request for a Ruling on Jurisdiction under Article 19(3) of the Statute’ to Pre-Trial Chamber I, ICC-RoC46(3)-01/18-2, President of the Pre-Trial Division, 11 April 2018.

6 Decision Inviting the Competent Authorities of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to Submit Observations pursuant to Rule 103(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence on the ‘Prosecution’s Request for a Ruling on Jurisdiction under Article 19(3) of the Statute’, ICC-RoC46(3)-01/18-3, Pre-T. Ch., 7 May 2018, para. 7(a).

7 The Prosecutor made reference to objective territoriality in the Situation in Afghanistan, Public redacted version of ‘Request for authorization of an investigation pursuant to article 15’, ICC-02/17-7-Conf-Exp, Pre-T. Ch., 20 November 2017, fn. 49 and in Situation in the Republic of Korea, Article 5 Report, June 2014, para. 39.

8 ‘Myanmar says “seriously concerned” over war crimes prosecutor move on Rohingya jurisdiction’, Reuters, 13 April 2018, available at www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-court/myanmar-says-seriously-concerned-over-war-crimes-prosecutor-move-on-rohingya-jurisdiction-idUSKBN1HK1QA (accessed 30 April 2018); ‘Myanmar says ICC lacks jurisdiction to probe Rohingya crisis’, ABS-CBN News, 13 April 2018, available at news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/13/18/myanmar-says-icc-lacks-jurisdiction-to-probe-rohingya-crisis (accessed 30 April 2018).

9 Reuters, ibid.

10 This is a different issue from the liability of remote perpetrators; namely, e.g., whether a perpetrator in Pyongyang can be liable for contributing to a crime in the DRC. The Prosecutor – somewhat optimistically – has considered the matter settled in favour of the Court’s jurisdiction. Situation in Afghanistan, supra note 7, para. 47.

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13 UN Secretary General, Report of the Secretary General on conflict-related sexual violence, UN Doc. S/2018/250, 23 March 2018, para. 10; ‘UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein highlights human rights concerns around the world in an address to the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva’, United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 11 September 2017, available at www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22044&LangID=E (accessed 15 April 2018).

14 The request, supra note 1, para. 10 with extensive references to NGO and media reports.

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17 Ibid., paras. 8–14.

18 Ibid., para. 11.

19 Ibid., paras. 13, 27, 28–30.

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28 The request, supra note 1, para. 42.

29 The request, supra note 1, paras. 4, 28, 45, fn. 51; further, paras. 28, 45.

30 The request, supra note 1, paras. 29, 31 and fn. 96.

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32 Ibid., at 45.

33 UN Security Council, Presidential Statement, UN Doc. S/PRST/2017/22, 6 November 2017.

34 Ibid., paras. 1–3.

35 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Advance Unedited Version, A/HRC/37/70, 9 March 2018, para. 65; S. Quadir, ‘U.N. Official says will raise sexual violence against Rohingya with ICC’, Reuters, 12 November 2017, available at www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-myanmar/u-n-official-says-will-raise-sexual-violence-against-rohingya-with-icc-idUSKBN1DC0N7 (accessed 15 April 2018); Ibrahim, A., The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Genocide (2018)Google Scholar.

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38 Art. 7(1)(a) of the Statute.

39 May 2018 marked nine months since the August 2017 campaign and NGOs in the field are reported to prepare for a number of rape-related births in refugee camps. Safi, M. and Azizur Rahman, S., ‘Nine months after Myanmar assaults, Rohingya camps ready for spate of births’, The Guardian, 1 May 2018, available at www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/01/nine-months-after-myanmar-assaults-rohingya-camps-ready-for-spate-of-births (accessed 15 May 2018)Google Scholar.

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55 Ibid., para. 53.

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57 Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti, Decision on the admissibility of the case under Article 19(1) of the Statute, ICC-02/04-01/05-377, Pre-T. Ch., 10 March 2009, para. 45.

58 Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang, ‘Decision on the Prosecutor’s Application for Summons to Appear for William Samoei Ruto, Henry Kiprono Kosgey and Joshua Arap Sang’, ICC-01/09-01/11-1, Pre-T. Ch., 8 March 2011, para. 8.

59 On effective interpretation see infra note 80 and text.

60 The request, supra note 1, para. 53.

61 Ibid., para. 52.

62 Ibid., para. 53.

63 Ibid., para. 54.

64 Ibid., para. 54.

65 Ibid., para. 55.

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67 Rule 59 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Official Records of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, First session, New York, 3–10 September 2002 (ICC ASP/1/3 and Corr.1), part II.A (hereinafter: The Rules).

68 The request, supra note 1, para. 54.

69 Ibid., paras. 54–5.

70 Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang, Decision on the Appeals of Mr William Samoei Ruto and Mr Joshua Arap Sang against the Decision of Pre-Trial Chamber II of 23 January 2012 Entitled ‘Decision on the Confirmation of Charges Pursuant to Article 61(7)(a) and (b) of the Rome Statute’, ICC-01/09-01/11-414, A.Ch., 24 May 2012, para. 28 (emphasis added).

71 Ibid., para. 29.

72 The Appeals Chamber has made it clear that its role is not to issue advisory opinions. Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Judgment on the Appeal of Mr Germain Katanga against the Oral Decision of Trial Chamber II of 12 June 2009 on the Admissibility of the Case, ICC-01/04-01/07-1497, A. Ch., 25 September 2009, paras. 37–8, fn. 62.

73 Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda, Judgment on the appeal of Mr Bosco Ntaganda against the ‘Decision on the Defence’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Court in respect of Counts 6 and 9’, ICC-01/04-02/06-1225, A.Ch., 22 March 2016, para. 37 (emphasis added, hereinafter: Ntaganda OA2).

74 Art. 19(1) of the Statute.

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90 The Regulation provides that the matter will be assigned by the President of the Pre-Trial division to a Pre-Trial Chamber. This took place on 11 April 2018. See supra note 5.

91 Ibid., at 590.

92 Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Judgment on the Prosecutor’s Application for Extraordinary Review of Pre-Trial Chamber I’s 31 March 2006 Decision Denying Leave to Appeal, ICC-01/04-168 OA 3, A. Ch., 13 July 2006, para. 39.

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95 Art. 30 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, CETS No. 5.

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105 Supra note 95.

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121 Supra note 119, para. 9.

122 For an exhaustive literature overview, Situation in Afghanistan, supra note 7, paras. 45–6, fns. 41–2.

123 See supra note 8.

124 Preamble of the Statute, supra note 4, para. 5.