The Internacional Criminal Court and amnesties approved in transitional processes: does conditionality legitimate juridically their use?

Abstract

International Criminal Law, from its origins, has dealt with amnesties that States approved to prevent the sanction of international crimes. The present study analyses if after the progressive evolution of this sector of the legal system and, specially, after the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the scope of amnesties has changed. In order to achieve this aim, first, it examines the situation of amnesties from an international law perspective and it analyses some pronouncements of international human rights tribunals. Second, it focuses on the Rome Statute and evaluates critically the interpretation of amnesties given by the International Criminal Court. Finally, taken into account the amnesty law approved by Colombia, the study discusses the actual conditions that appears to be necessary in transitional justice processes and analyses their legal adequacy.