Aspects of victim participation in the proceedings of the International Criminal Court

The participation of victims in criminal proceedings is generally a rather new phenomenon. While there is a certain tradition of victim participation as ‘‘partie civile’’ in the criminal proceedings of some national jurisdictions, it is a novelty in international criminal trials. The drafters of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute chose to design a rather broad victim participation scheme. Although it is hailed as an important and effective instrument for giving victims of gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law a voice, the procedural and substantive details are far from being settled. Some of the most significant issues are discussed in this article, including the question whether and how victim participation may influence sentencing and punishment. The participation of victims in criminal proceedings is generally a rather new phenomenon – and is still far from being fully accepted. Victims have played and continue to play a marginal role in the precedents of the International Criminal Court (ICC); they are seen as nothing more than witnesses, and in those precedents neither participation nor compensation schemes exists. Influenced by a strong tendency in national and international law to acknowledge victims’ views * The author would like to thank Anne-Marie La Rosa for her very useful comments on an earlier draft. This article covers jurisprudence and literature rendered and published until April 2008. Volume 90 Number 870 June 2008