Justice Delivered or Justice Denied?: The Legacy of the Katanga Judgment
On 7 March 2014, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rendered its third and arguably most controversial trial judgment in the case against Germain Katanga. It marks the first final judgment under Article 74 following the discontinuation of both the Defence and Prosecution appeals. This article an...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of international criminal justice 2014-09, Vol.12 (4), p.809 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | On 7 March 2014, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rendered its third and arguably most controversial trial judgment in the case against Germain Katanga. It marks the first final judgment under Article 74 following the discontinuation of both the Defence and Prosecution appeals. This article analyses the procedural and substantive implications of the decision. While the judgment makes some important contributions to the development of jurisprudence, it departs significantly from the 'case' at pre-trial and contains some inherent contradictions, flawed interpretations and evidentiary weaknesses that are well known from other Courts and tribunals. Judge Van den Wyngaert's 'fundamental dissent' on key points of law and fact raises doubts whether the decision meets the 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard. Ultimately, the Katanga case highlights continuing challenges related to fairness and trial management at the ICC, including an urgent need to re-consider the relationship between pre-trial and trial. Its contentious findings leave an incomplete, and partly contradictory picture of the role of actors in the Ituri crisis, which confirms scepticism about the fact-finding function of international criminal courts and tribunals. |
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ISSN: | 1478-1387 1478-1395 |
DOI: | 10.1093/jicj/mqu054 |