The International Criminal Court (ICC) has declared that it would start treating cases involving the illegal exploitation of natural resources, misuse and illegal dispossession of lands and environmental destruction as serious crimes.
The Hague-based Court made the announcement in a policy document released today by the ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. The policy declaration is related to Article 93 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which addresses forms of cooperation whereby States Parties are required to comply with the ICC’s requests to provide assistance in investigations or prosecutions. The policy assures that the Office of the Prosecutor also will seek to cooperate and provide assistance to States, upon request, with respect to conduct which constitutes a serious crime under national law.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor states in the policy paper that In this context, the Office will give particular consideration to prosecuting Rome Statute crimes that are committed by means of, or that result in, inter alia, the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources or the illegal dispossession of land.
The statement, entitled “Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritisation,” the Office recalled also that it fully endorses the role that can be played by truth seeking mechanisms, reparations programs, institutional reform and traditional justice mechanisms as part of a broader comprehensive strategy, as provided in “Policy Paper on the Interests of Justice” (2007).
Download the Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritisation
| Themes |
| • Access to natural resources • Destruction of habitat • International • Landless • Legal frameworks • Norms and standards • People under occupation • Reparations / restitution of rights • UN system |
