State Cooperation within the Context of the International Criminal Court. A Critical Reflection (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2022 in the subject Law - Criminal process, Criminology, Law Enforcement, grade: A, Helia University of Business and Applied Sciences (Faculty of Laws and Political Science), course: International Law, language: English, abstract: This dissertation focuses on the concept of state cooperation as it applies within the context of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The study examines the extent to which the cooperation of states facilitates the role of the ICC in fulfilling its objective of arresting impunity on the international stage. Despite the fact that the Rome Statute bestows upon states an obligation to cooperate with the ICC, the court has over the years continued to face significant instances of non-cooperation which has been identified as one of the major challenges facing the court in the achievement of its mission of combating international crimes and ending impunity for such crimes.

The study adopts qualitative research based on doctrinal method of legal research, making use of a content analysis of primary and secondary sources of data. Findings of this study reveal that indeed, the concept of state cooperation is a fundamental requirement for the effective functioning of the ICC. This study also reveals that the ICC continues to experience significant instances of non-cooperation from states for several reasons including: the lack of enforcement powers, conflicting obligations, interests and immunities, domestic and international politics, and a perception of bias by African states. To address the problem of non-cooperation, this study recommends the restriction of the application of the doctrine of immunity as it applies to the ICC, amongst others. The study further recommends for an improvement in the ICC's collaboration with regional/continental organizations so as to facilitate and improve on the level of states cooperation with the International Criminal Court.