By Evelyne Asaala
Abstract
The current standoff between the African Union (AU) and African states on one side and the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the other side has compromised the fight against impunity for international crimes in Africa. This chapter identifies the need to expand the scope and institutionalise the principle and practice of complementarity as one way to surmount this challenge. Rather than a restrictive approach in the interpretation and practice of this principle, which puts the actions of states at the fore and only in the aftermath of conflict, this contribution advocates for an expansion of this principle and also seeks to institutionalise it. It is argued that institutionalised complementarity will have the effect of reinforcing the ICC and national criminal justice systems efforts towards national prosecution of international crimes. This structure should embody all the normative and practical aspects of complementarity and will involve several players including regional entities like the AU, the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute (ASP), the donor community, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), the civil society and the states themselves. In this regard, this chapter lays down the frameworks of good governance in national criminal justice systems and their co-relation with the principle of complementarity. Further, it explores a framework of institutionalising complementarity between the ICC and national criminal justice systems.
