The goal of the International Justice Programme is to contribute to the protection of human rights, access to justice, and the re-establishment of the dignity of victims, through the effective deterrence of human rights violations and promotion of international norms and standards.  

More specifically, the programme works to raise awareness on international and national norms and institutions for the effective prosecution of serious human rights violations, enhance the capacity of national legal systems and to provide support to victims who wish to be represented in proceedings before national and international courts.  

The activities of the International Justice Programme are carried out both in the field and at headquarters.

Activities

1. Support to the effective functioning and independence of the International Criminal Court
   ASF has actively supported the creation of the first permanent international criminal court and the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Since the establishment of the court in 2002, ASF has continued with its engagement in support of the effective functioning and independence of the Court through advocacy activities, regular consultations and research and publications in relation to the ICC and international criminal law.  ASF strives to share its expertise and experience in the field, via the presentation of position papers, consultations and meetings with various organs of the Court, independently or in concert with other members of the Coalition for the ICC.

• Legal assistance and representation
  ASF provides assistance and legal representation to victims wishing to participate in proceedings before the ICC or before national courts but also to indigent defendants in national courts.  Accordingly:
  - In the Democratic Republic of Congo, ASF has provided legal assistance to more than 500 victims and 100 accused persons,thanks to 28 lawyers who participated in training.
  - ASF has also provided legal assistance to over 60 victims participating in ICC proceedings.  In January 2009, the four victims assisted by ASF in the Lubanga case since 2006 were granted legal aid by the Court. From that point onwards, they were incorporated in the system of common legal representation with other victims. The two lawyers initially retained by ASF are members of the team of common legal representatives. In the Katanaga/Ngudjolo case, ASF assisted a total 56 victims in the preparation of their application files and appointed a three member team of legal representatives to represent those victims before the ICC. Following the Trial Chamber’s ruling of 22 July 2009 authorizing the Registry to put in place a system of common legal representation for victims, the Registry has appointed one of the lawyers who was part of the original team of 3 lawyers retained by ASF, as the common legal representative for the majority of the victims participating in the case. He currently represents over 300 victims with the support of a team principally made up of an assistant counsel and a case manager through the Court’s legal aid scheme.

• Promoting the principle of Complementarity
  Since 2005, via its integrated project on the fight against impunity, ASF has worked both at the level of capacity building (training of lawyers, judges and NGO representatives) as well as at the level of technical assistance for various justice sector personnel. ASF also monitors trials before DRC national courts concerning international crimes.

As part of its ongoing efforts to contribute towards greater accountability for gross human rights violations as well as redress for victims, ASF has launched a new multi-country project entitled Promoting the Rome Statute System and enhancing the effectiveness of the ICC, thanks to the financial support obtained from the European Commission. The focus of the programme in the coming two years will be on capitalising on lessons learned in the past six years, standardising tools and capacity building modules, and expanding the geographic scope of ASF’s project activities in the areas of international justice.

Alongside its activities relating to the ICC, the International Justice Programme provides analytical support and coordinates the work of ASF on major issues related to human rights and international justice.  This includes the organisation of conferences, research, analyses and publications.

ASF's Publications

The International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent international institution established by treaty and created with the goal of promoting the rule of law and guaranteeing the trial of the most serious international crimes.  The ICC embodies the hopes of victims, who see it as a way to obtain justice and compensation. 

The ICC is complementary to national criminal courts. It was established under the Rome Statute, which was adopted on July 17^th, 1998, during the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (also known as the Rome Conference) convened to negotiate the adoption of an instrument establishing such an international criminal court, and which was attended by 120 states. This historic institution is a completely independent international organisation and is the product of a developing consensus within the international community that impunity for international crimes is unacceptable. The Statute came into force on the 1^stof July, 2002 after the required number of 60 ratifications had been reached. As of 24 June 2011, the ICC counts 116 State Parties with Tunisia’s ratification of the Rome Statute.  

Mandate of the ICC
The ICC is the first permanent international court.  Its mandate is to prosecute those considered responsible for the most serious international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) committed after the Statute came into force (or after ratification of the Statute of Rome by the states that subsequently joined the ICC). Until the coming into force of the Statute of Rome, only temporary or ad hoc tribunals, or those with a specific mandate to prosecute crimes against humanity in particular contexts, existed. 

Structure of the ICC 
The ICC is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and is composed of four organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Office of the Registrar. 

Opening an investigation
The Prosecutor of the ICC can open an investigation on crimes allegedly committed in a situation that has been referred to him by either the Prosecutor of the state party or by the Security Council of the United Nations under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, or the Prosecutor may on his own initiative decide to commence an investigation. 

The Office of the Prosecutor has opened investigations in six countries: Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Darfur (Sudan), Kenya and most recently Libya.While the other situations were referred to the Prosecutor by the countries concerned, the Darfur situation and the Libya situation were referred by the UN Security Council pursuant toArtice 13 (b) of the Rome Statute and Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. The Office of the Prosecutorhas also recently requested the pre-trial chamber for an authorization to open an investigation in Côte d’Ivoire.  The Office of the Prosecutoris additionally studying the situation in other countries such as Afghanistan, Georgia, Guinea, Colombia, Palestine, Honduras, Korea and Nigeria, to decide whether the alleged crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC and whether they had in fact been committed, and can, if necessary, open official investigations in the future.

Website: www.icc-cpi.int