Fallselektion und Situation Completion am Internationalen Strafgerichtshof

Overview & Synopsis

How may the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court select cases within a situation and how can it terminate the investigations in a situation as a whole? The author argues that the Rome Statute follows the principle of mandatory prosecution, which cannot be implemented in practice. However, proceedings may be suspended within the check-and-balance system of Art. 53 Rome Statute that contains opportunity clauses and rules on judicial review. On this basis, it is possible to legitimize the suspension of proceedings both in individual cases (case selection) and in the situation as a whole (situation completion). The result is an alternative to the current practice of non-transparent, almost purely discretionary decisions.