Ausgehend vom Krieg in der Ukraine, der Defizite bei der Verfolgung von Völkerstraftaten vor dem IStGH offengelegt hat, ist es das Ziel der Konferenz, sich mit möglichen Änderungen des Römer Statuts zur Schließung dieser Lücken auseinandersetzen. Ein Fokus wird auf der Angleichung der Zuständigkeitsvoraussetzungen bei der Verfolgung des Aggressionsverbrechens liegen. Zur Diskussion steht aber auch eine mögliche Ausweitung der sachlichen Zuständigkeit des IStGH (z.B. Gebrauch verbotener Waffen) und Fragen selektiver Strafverfolgung. 

Conference on Amendments: Towards one Comprehensive Jurisdictional Regime for all Crimes Within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court

Acts of aggression committed against Ukraine and other crimes under international law committed in the context of the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, have spotlighted existing gaps in the international justice architecture.

This concerns, most prominently, the Rome Statute’s restrictive jurisdictional regime over the crime of aggression, which i.a. precludes the International Criminal Court (ICC) from exercising its jurisdiction over a crime of aggression arising from an act of aggression committed by a non-State party. It also concerns remaining gaps in the Rome Statute’s war crimes provision and exceptions from the jurisdictional reach of the ICC over crimes covered by an amendment. Such jurisdictional exceptions are hardly justifiable from an international rule of law perspective. At the same time, attempts to bridge gaps with ad hoc jurisdictions in certain situations may be prone to allegations of selective enforcement of international criminal law. A principled and sustainable solution that aims at strengthening the Rome Statute system must therefore address shortcomings of the Statute.

The conference will gather international scholars and practitioners in international criminal law, international humanitarian law and the law of treaties as well as representatives of civil society to discuss the multiple legal, technical, and policy questions related to harmonizing the jurisdictional regime of the ICC over all crimes within its jurisdiction. It will provide impetus for future amendment processes, including the upcoming mandatory review of the aggression amendments, seven years after their activation, in 2025.

The Vienna Conference on Amendments will be held in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It will be the first event of a twin conference project of the University of Vienna and the Charles University (Prague) focussing on current legal developments in the enforcement of the crime of aggression and other crimes under international law. The Prague Conference ‘Towards Accountability for the Crime of Aggression Committed Against Ukraine’ will take place 10.11.-11.11.2023, https://law.prf.cuni.cz/specialtribunalforaggression/.

Registration via email <int-law@univie.ac.at> is open until Sunday 24.09.2023.

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