Complementing Complementarity

Abstract

AbstractNon-criminal sanctions have experienced an extensive proliferation in the aftermath of mass atrocities and regime changes over the last decades. Operating under a principle of complementarity the International Criminal Court (ICC) will inevitably have to deal with implications of their employment. But despite being the most broadly applied accountability mechanism non-criminal sanctions have been neglected almost entirely in the current debate surrounding the complementarity principle. The following article seeks to identify sustainable criteria to establish a viable basis for determinations of admissibility. Pertinent provisions of the ICC Statute, namely Articles 17, 20, 53, are, therefore, explored and operationalized as regards non-criminal sanctions. On that basis the article lays out a proposal to substantiate determinations of admissibility in such cases and introduces contextual proportionality as a concept to complement complementarity.