Balancing Global and Local Justice: The International Criminal Court and Latin American Domestic Efforts

• In Event: ASC Presidential Panel: Intersections of Justice, Law, and Policy in Latin America: Emerging Opportunities to Tackle Serious/organized Crime

Abstract

Latin America played a fundamental role in the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Twenty-eight of the 125 states parties to the Rome Statute are from the region. Yet, thus far, the ICC has opened a formal investigation into only one country in the region: Venezuela. Despite a number of requests to engage the Court in other situations, the ICC has declined, responding in one of three ways: 1) the allegations were insufficient to open a formal investigation (Honduras, for example), 2) the allegations were sufficient but the principle of complementarity - by which the ICC acts as a court of last resort, intervening only when a national system is unable or unwilling to conduct its own investigations and prosecutions - was not satisfied (Colombia, for instance), or 3) the allegations were insufficient even to open a preliminary examination (Mexico, for instance). This intervention focuses on the positive and negative consequences flowing from each of these responses, in particular with respect to the efforts of domestic actors to end impunity for core international crimes.

Author

• Susana SaCouto, American University