The International Criminal Court and the evolution of the idea of combating impunity: an assessment 15 years after the Rome Conference

This article1 evaluates the International Criminal Court´s first years of operation, taking stock of the institution’s activity. It describes and analyzes the main challenges which confronts this institution, namely: a) universality, complementarity and cooperation; and b) peace and justice. In the specific case of Kenya, the President and Vice-President of the Republic are suspected of committing crimes against humanity. Considering the positions taken by the African Union, the debate is whether the introduction of immunity from criminal jurisdiction, albeit temporary, to Heads of State and Government while in Office may, or may not, come to represent a step backwards for the idea of combating impunity for the most serious international crimes

The ICC at the centre ofan international criminal justice system: current challenges

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has entered into its second decade of operations and has established itself at the centre of an international criminal justice system, comprising also domestic jurisdictions and other international courts and tribunals. However, many challenges continue to face the ICC and, indeed, such challenges are part of its own features and stem from the specificities of international law and relations. In this article, we shall discuss, in light of recent events, four of such challenges: 1) Universality; 2) Complementarity; 3) Cooperation; and 4) the Crime of Aggression. These challenges illustrate how the ICC and international criminal justice inhabit both the cultures of justice and politics and how these two aspects have to be taken into account in order for such challenges to be overcome, so that the mission of a permanent and central instrument for the fight against impunity, that historically started in Rome in 1998, becomes an inherent part of today’s world

International cooperation and the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise

In recent years, the prospect of rising sea-levels as an adverse impact of climate change has gained increasing importance for a significant part of the international community. More than 70 States are likely to see their territories partially or completely inundated as a result of this slow-onset phenomenon, which jeopardises the habitability of often densely populated areas and puts a large number of persons’ lives and livelihoods at risk. Without timely and proactive interventions, moreover, displacement to other States is likely to become inevitable. In light of the global impact of sea-level rise, international cooperation is vital to adequately respond to it, mitigate its damaging effects, and protect those affected by it. Cooperation is therefore a practical necessity and a moral imperative. Cooperation is, in addition, a legal duty imposed by international law. The International Law Commission (ILC) has recently included in its active agenda the topic “Sea-level rise in relation to International Law” and created a Study Group to examine the legal issues related to a) Law of the Sea; b) Statehood; and c) Protection of Persons affected by sea-level rise. While the work of the Study Group is still at an early stage, addressing the legal framework for the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise provides a renewed opportunity to clarify the content and manifestations of non-affected States’ duty to cooperate

International criminal justice: a dialog between two cultures

The implementation of the idea that individuals, wherever they are and regardless of their official status, may be accountable for crimes against humanity breaks away from the Westphalian paradigm that each State is responsible for trying (or not) its citizens. After the Cold War, several international criminal courts were created, namely the ad hoc courts for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and a permanent criminal court, the International Criminal Court (ICC). Power no longer serves as a means for impunity. Those leaders involved in conflicts have learned to fear international criminal justice as a "sword of Damocles". On the other hand, the creation of international criminal jurisdictions has become a means to consolidate peace in post-conflict situations so as to restore justice

Ambiente, alterações climáticas e subida do nível do mar na revisão do Conceito Estratégico de Defesa Nacional

O ACORDO DE PARIS1 , CELEBRADO EM 2015, e fruto de um esforço conjunto de multilateralismo, estabelece determinadas metas de modo a que se limite o aumento da temperatura média global a níveis abaixo de graus centígrados acima dos níveis pré-industriais. No entanto, mesmo que as metas do Acordo de Paris sejam cumpridas, e que se pudesse limitar o aumento global da temperatura a níveis até 1 grau e meio, alguns efeitos já estão a ser sentidos e vão continuar a ser sentidos, o que se repercutirá num aumento de fenómenos extremos (Vide Figura 1). Além disso, como foi deixado ao critério de cada Estado o modo de atingir esse objetivo global ínsito em Paris (isto é, que medidas tomar para o efeito) através de Contribuições Nacionalmente Determinadas, é de notar que apesar da Europa seguir de avanço no que respeita a planos mais ambiciosos para cumprir as metas de Paris, muitas outras zonas do globo sofrem de pouca vontade política e menos capacidade económica (a transição energética comporta, inclusive, avultados custos económicos)

Direitos humanos e alterações climáticas

No momento em que a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos comemora o seu 70.º aniversário, em dezembro de 2018, os desafios que se colocam aos direitos humanos são de diversa natureza. Para além dos tradicionais e mais diretamente ligados às atividades clássicas dos Estados soberanos, que continuam a ocupar um papel central no palco das relações internacionais, os desafios que se colocam aos direitos humanos possuem hoje também uma natureza distinta, mais difusa, implicando novos atores e ligada a novos fenómenos. Quando, entre 1946 e 1948, a Comissão de Direitos Humanos das Nações Unidas, sob a batuta de Eleanor Roosevelt, trabalhava no projeto de Declaração Universal de Direitos Humanos, as alterações climáticas, como as conhecemos hoje, eram muito provavelmente ficção científica ou algo mesmo desconhecido. O mesmo se poderá dizer aquando da adoção dos Pactos Internacionais dos Direitos Humanos em 1966. O trabalho de consolidação dos direitos humanos continuou nas décadas seguintes e a comunidade internacional encontra-se hoje dotada de uma sólida arquitetura jurídica, tanto universal como regional, de proteção destes direitos

Corrupção e direitos humanos

Lusíada. Direito. - ISSN 2182-4118. - N. especial (2023). - p. 61

International criminal justice: a dialogue between two cultures

The implementation of the idea that individuals, wherever they are and regardless of their official status, may be accountable for crimes against humanity breaks away from the Westphalian paradigm that each State is responsible for prosecuting (or not) its citizens. After the Cold War, several international criminal jurisdictions were created, namely the ad hoc courts for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and a permanent criminal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court (ICC). Power no longer serves as a means for impunity in the same way. Those leaders involved in conflicts have learned to fear international criminal justice as a “sword of Damocles”. On the other hand, the creation of international criminal jurisdictions has become a means to consolidate peace in post-conflict situations so as to restore justice

Da imprevisibilidade momentânea à previsibilidade estrutural

A segurança humana é um conceito que nos convoca a pensar as múltiplas dimensões da segurança para além das clássicas formulações assentes na dimensão militar e numa visão estatocentrica do mundo. Questionamos neste IDN Brief a forma como a pandemia veio afetar a segurança humana, sobretudo a dos mais vulneráveis; a adequação dos sistemas de governação ou dos modelos de proteção implicados nas operações de paz; o efeito dos fechamentos nacionais e da travagem da mobilidade internacional sobre as populações e Estados mais frágeis; as contradições geradas entre diferentes direitos humanos; as novas desigualdades e a capacidade das políticas públicas de inclusãoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio