European Efforts in Transitional Justice While Implementing Universal Jurisdiction: ICJ Belgium v. Senegal Case

Abstract

On 20th July 2012 the International Court of Justice ruled that Senegal must submit the case of Chad’s former leader Mr. Hissene Habre to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution if it does not extradite him to Belgium. The international consensus that the perpetrators of international crimes should not go unpunished is being advanced by established international criminal tribunals, treaty obligations and a growing number of countries that recognise universal jurisdiction for their national courts, which may have an important role to play in balancing justice and peace, accountability and stability in transitional societies as in Mr. Habre’s case. Despite the fact that universal jurisdiction (International Law Association 2000, p. 2) is being accepted by States while trying to comply with their international obligations, difficulties arise when it comes to the implementation of universal jurisdiction because of its concurrency with existing judicial mechanisms. The authors of this article argue that internationally recognised values and reparatory justice for victims of the conflict must be placed on a State’s power to choose which cases involving core international crimes are the objects of the exercising of its criminal jurisdiction, including universal jurisdiction and universal jurisdiction in absentia, after taking the principle of subsidiarity into account.