Admission of Guilt or Guilty Plea Before ICC: A Less Used Procedure in International Criminal Justice?

• In Event: International and Community Perspectives on Prosecutorial Decisions

Abstract

Article 65 of Rome Statute provide a compromise between traditional Common Law and civil law by establishing a procedure called “Admission of guilt” close to “guilty plea” or “plea bargaining”. According to ICC statute, an accused person may accept criminal responsibility for the crimes with which he or she is charged. The purpose of this procedure is to combat impunity through the prosecution of individuals responsible for serious international crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, as highlighted by ICC Office of Prosecutor. However, Trial Chamber ascertain that the accused understands the nature and consequences of each admission of guilt and that in voluntary. If not, The Chamber order that the trial be continued under the ordinary trial procedures provided by the Statute. Before ICC, the Al-Mahdi case is the first and only case until now, in which the accused pleads guilty. But, we have several examples that this procedure is used before the ad hoc international tribunals as ICTY and ICTR. In this paper, we analyze the place of this procedure before the ICC, in its statute and its jurisprudence. Above all, we focus on the guiding principles developed by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC.

Authors

• Hesam Seyyed Esfahani, Université de Moncton

• Ahmad Kabbaha, University of Jordan