The Evidentiary Procedure at the International Criminal Court in a Nutshell and the Role of Victims

Abstract

This article addresses the evidentiary procedure before the International Criminal Court and focuses on the essential, but rather unexplored issue concerning the respective role of victims. The Court’s ingenuously designed fact-finding mechanism accommodates concurrently the parties’ active and autonomous position in the submission and examination of evidence and the Chamber’s truth-finding authority in the criminal justice process. However, where do victim-participants stand in this equation? The legal framework does not provide a thorough answer, apart from granting victims the conditional possibility to question witnesses, experts and the accused via their legal representative. Still, the article discerns further manifestations of the engagement of victims in the evidence-gathering process. Due consideration is given to the potential impact on the evidentiary material of the procedural phenomenon of duality of victim-witness status. Likewise contemplated is the possibility of victims to enhance the fact-finding process by way of their views and concerns presented in the course of the criminal proceedings. Subsequently, the position of victims in the evidentiary procedure on the merits of the criminal case is juxtaposed with the victims’ party standing and central role in the evidence-gathering process germane to reparations.