The International Criminal Court and human rights : an unsettled relationship : from the jurisprudence of the Court to its impacts on Sudan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The International Criminal Court is the first permanent international criminal tribunal. Evolving in a world which faces the globalisation, the ICC is confronted to different fields of law which are interacting : international law, criminal law, human rights law and humanitarian law. Focusing on human rights and the ICC, this work will study the influence of the Court on human rights law and on some human rights in Sudan, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Kenya. The Rome Statute is a key element of the first part of this work, as its article 21 (3) is a really innovative article which can be really powerful, depending on its use by the Court. However the unclear approach taken by the Court undermined its power. On the second part, the comparative analysis of the impacts of the ICC on human rights in Kenya, Sudan and the DRC will give a broader and more concrete view on the real and mitigated impact of the ICC on the ground.