The “humanizing” decisión of the pre-trial chamber of the international criminal court on competence and jurisdiction regarding certain crimes perpetrated with transnational elements: the case of the rohingya expelled to bangladesh

Abstract

The decision on competence and jurisdiction of the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court, in spite of its brevity and its seizing procedural aspects at first glance, is noteworthy for several reasons flowing from its interpretations, which enable the Court to address a serious humanitarian and social crisis that cannot be left in impunity. Concerning this, besides highlighting the autonomous participation that victims may have, and even referring to rights of theirs in the institutional framework of the Court –that the latter must ensure, the Chamber’s decision draws a distinction between the crimes of forcible transfer and deportation, and concludes that the Court can have competence even when only part of the pertinent criminal conduct takes place in the territory of States parties to its Statute, even if such conduct did not begin in their territories. This logic permits to strengthen the fight against the impunity of conducts with transnational elements, further eliminating gaps and control vacuums through the potential action of the Court, whose objective international legal personality and effects in relation to third parties in some events are also upheld in the decision.