Just wanted to write to say how incredibly excited I am right now! I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a trip to The Hague in the Netherlands, the seat of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The ICC is an independent international organization headquartered in The Hague in the Netherlands. The court was established on July 17, 1998 by the Rome Statute, the treaty and legal basis for establishing the permanent court. Currently, 108 countries support the ICC. The ICC has also been established as a court of last resort, and will only act if a national judicial system refuses to investigate or prosecute a particular case.
I’m going on a trip to the ICC with the law society from LSE and will have the exciting opportunity to meet the Chief Prosecutor, sit in on the Lubanga trial, potentially sit in on the Charles Taylor hearing, and attend meetings/briefings with the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Coalition for the ICC, and International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. I wrote about the Lubanga trial in more detail here, if you’re interested in reading about this exciting new development. I’ll also be able to spend some free time in Amsterdam, which is only 40 minutes away from The Hague. I am incredibly excited for this opportunity and I wish I could liveblog it. I know there will be so many thoughts swirling around in my head, just screaming to be put down on (metaphorical) paper. Unfortunately, I can’t take my computer so I’ll probably stick to taking notes and trying to post them up in my free time, if I can get ahold of a computer. Otherwise I’ll have to put together a sort of “trip report” once I return to London! Either way, I’m going to try to post a ’series’ about the ICC when I get back, chronicling everything I’ve learned.
I feel incredibly lucky and privileged to be able to go to the Hague and observe firsthand my interest in transitional justice, especially in light of all the exciting new developments taking place at the ICC. The ICC is currently holding its first official trial - and I am so lucky that I can attend at precisely this time. This is definitely going to be an experience that I’ll never forget.
