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International Arrest Warrants in ongoing Conflicts – the Legal Framework of Criminal Law Interventions by External Actors
The Arrest Warrants in the Northern Uganda Case and the Darfur Case at the ICC

Mayeul Hiéramente (France)

Ph.D. Project

Arrest Warrants in the Northern Uganda and Darfur cases at the ICC

The project takes a normative approach to the (regrettably) often termed “justice vs. peace dilemma,” better described as a conflict between the need (or will) to use criminal law to punish perpetrators of international crimes and the need to end hostilities, thus preventing combat and the commission of new crimes. The project aims to establish normative criteria (with a focus on public interna-tional law in general) to resolve the above-mentioned conflict where the political conditions impede the simultaneous pursuit of criminal prosecution and the implementation of peace agreements. The newly created International Criminal Court (ICC) will be the focus of the project since in two of the situations - Northern Uganda and Darfur (Sudan) - this conflict occurs, inter alia, due to the ongoing nature of the violence. The arrest warrants issued against the Ugandan rebel leader, Joseph Kony, and the sitting president of the Republic of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, are the source of contention in the current political and legal debate. One aim of the dissertation is to assess which international obligations are pertinent to the conflict arising from the issuance of these international arrest warrants. Even a cursory review of relevant sources reveals conflicting obligations and rights. On the one hand, international conventions (such as Art. IV of the Genocide Convention) and customary international law (e.g., punishment of crimes against humanity) set out an obligation or at least a right to punish the main perpetrators, while on the other hand, international law (especially the UN Charter, a number of human rights treaties, as well as the concept of “Responsibility to Protect”) favor the prevention of future crimes and hostilities.

The primary aim of the dissertation is to evaluate whether international law (either in abstracto or in concreto) favors one of these legal obligations or rights. Therefore, the project will focus on the concept of jus cogens and Article 103 of the UN Charter and will address the question of the legal relevance of the concept of “Responsibility to Protect” in order to determine whether there is a hierarchy of norms in international law and, if there is, whether the hierarchy is pertinent to the cases examined in the dissertation. It will also address other aspects of the theory of conflicts of norms.

Based on this analysis, the dissertation proceeds with the procedural consequences of the anticipated finding that there is no valid claim for the primacy of the criminal law approach in international law. For this reason, the project will address the concrete decisions that were and will be taken in the cases of Northern Uganda and Darfur (Sudan). It evaluates the possibilities de lege lata of the Office of the Prosecutor and the Pre Trial Chamber of the ICC to take into account the normative indicators when deciding if an arrest warrant should be issued (Art. 57 III (a) Rome Statute) or withdrawn or an investigation opened or closed (Art. 53 II (c), III (a)-(b) Rome Statute). It provides an analysis of the ability of the UN Security Council to act under Article 16 of the Rome Statute or even solely on the basis of Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The dissertation will conclude by addressing the legal consequences of the decisions for future national or international criminal proceedings (especially the doctrine of abuse of process) and will give a short overview on the feasibility of possible compromises.

For this purpose, international conventions, national and international jurisprudence, literature, and written media sources will be analyzed. This will be supplemented by an analysis of non-binding international documents and governmental statements in order to explore the content of the relevant customary international law based on a “modern positivist” approach.

Research Interests and Goals

International Criminal Law, Purposes of Punishment, International Arrest Warrants, Uganda, Sudan

Publications

(selection)
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof und die Vereinten Nationen: Ein ungeklärtes Verhältnis. In: Vereinte Nationen, 2010, Issue/Volume 6, p. 255 - 259.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: "Die Anklage auf der Anklagebank" oder "Wie die Berufungskammer des IStGH das Lubanga-Verfahren zu retten versucht"BOFAXE Nr. 359D, 4.11.2010.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: Freiheit für mutmaßlichen Kriegsverbrecher Lubanga? "Richter vs. Ankläger" oder "Der IStGH und Probleme mit der Fairness", BOFAXE Nr. 354D, 30.8.2010.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: Ein faires Verfahren für Kriegsverbrecher - Grenzen der Informationsbeschaffung und der Fall Lubanga. In: Humanitäres Völkerrecht-Informationsschriften (Journal of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict), 2010, Issue/Volume 1/23, p. 32 - 39.
  • Review: Petersohn, Ulrich: Selektiver Schutz universaler Menschenrechte. Eine multikausale Erklärung des Interventionsverhaltens von Demokratien. Baden-Baden, 2009, In: Sicherheit und Frieden, Volume/Nr. 1/2010.
  • Review: Schmolze, Bianca / Rauchfuss, Knut: Kein Vergeben. Kein Vergessen. Der Internationale Kampf gegen die Straflosigkeit. Berlin/Hamburg, 2009, In: Sicherheit und Frieden, Volume/Nr. 1/2010.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: Anfänger im Strafrecht: "Fussballfrust". In: Iurratio, 2009, issues 3-4, vol. 1, p. 164 - 166.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul: La Cour Pénale Internationale et les Etats-Unis - Une analyse juridique du différend. Paris, Edition L'Harmattan, 102 p., 2008.
  • Hiéramente, Mayeul / Schneider, Patricia: Die Kleinen hängt man, die Großen lässt man laufen. In: Sicherheit und Frieden (S+F), 2007, Issue/Volume 2, p. 65 - 70.

Lectures

  • 8. April 2011

    Die Janusköpfigkeit der Anklagebehörde - Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof zwischen Aktivismus und strafrechtlicher Intervention

    Location: Evangelische Akademie Villigst

  • 9-18h, 8. Januar 2011

    Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof und Friedensprozesse
    Blocklehrveranstaltung im Rahmen des Postgraduierten Masterstudiengangs "Master of Peace and Security Studies"

    Location: Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik (IFSH)

  • 6. October 2010

    Von Nürnberg bis Den Haag - Von Nürnberg bis Den Haag - Die Entwicklung der Völkerstrafgerichtsbarkeit und ihre Bedeutung für die Vereinten Nationen
    Gemeinsamer Vortrag mit Marc Zeccola im Rahmen des UNO-Forum Baden-Württemberg, veranstaltet von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen e.V.

    Location: Stuttgart, 6. October 2010

  • 4. June 2010

    La Responsabilité de Protéger et les Discours Normatifs
    Presentation at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice International Conference "Societies in Transition: Balancing Security, Social Justice and Tradition"

    Location: Marrakesh, Morroco

  • 9.15 - 10.45 h, Friday

    Arbeitsgemeinschaft Strafrecht Besonderer Teil
    University Course in summer semester 2010

    Location: Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Universitätsstraße 5, room Nr. 2

  • 15. April 2010

    Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof als Akteur der Friedensschaffung?
    Vortrag im Rahmen der DRK-Tagung: Verbreitung der Genfer Konventionen

    Location: DRK Institut für Bildung und Kommunikation, Münster

  • 8. April 2010

    Internationale Verbrechen und "Structural Theft"
    Vortrag im Rahmen der GIWK-Tagung "Einheitliches Recht für die Vielfalt der Kulturen. Strafrecht und Kriminologie in Zeiten transkultureller Gesellschaften und transnationalen Rechts"

    Location: Renner-Institut

  • 9-18 h, 23. January 2010

    Der IStGH und Friedensprozesse
    Blocklehrveranstaltung im Rahmen des Postgraduierten Masterstudiengangs "Master of Peace and Security Studies" (mit Prof. Dr. Rainer Keller)

    Location: Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik (IFSH)

  • 10.15-11.45 h, Friday

    Arbeitsgemeinschaft Strafrecht Allgemeiner Teil
    University Course in winter semester 2009/2010

    Location: Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, room HS 1 Peterhof

  • 24. October 2009 Konzeptuelle Renationalisierung des Völkerstrafrechts?
    Vortrag im Rahmen des Panels: Vergangenheitsbewältigung durch Strafe?, 1. Nachwuchskonferenz des Exzellenzclusters Normative Orders: Normative Ordnungen: Rechtfertigung und Sanktion.

    Location: Frankfurt am Main

  • 3. September 2009

    The ICC and the UN: obstacles to a fructuous cooperation
    Guest Lecture in the Training Module: UN Peacekeeping Operations

    Location: German Armed Forces, Command and Staff College (Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr), Hamburg

Curriculum vitae

10/2008 - 04/2011 PhD Candidate of the International Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment (IMPRS REMEP) at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg i.Br., Germany
10/2002 - 10/2008 University of Hamburg, Germany and Université Paris X-Nanterre, France, (German, European and International Law)
Degree: First State Examination