Imprisonment for Life at the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The objective of this article is to call attention to the delicate but often disregarded issue of life imprisonment at the International Criminal Court (ICC), especially regarding how such a penalty may be imposed and reviewed, and the problems this entails. The article contends that several reforms of the ICC Statute (ICCS) and changes in the ICC’s line of case law should be considered as vital in order to tackle the urgencies caused by some of the provisions of the ICC system concerning life imprisonment. In fact, notably, there are a plethora of elements that render a possible future application of such a grave penalty devoid of fundamental minimum requirements for the protection of the offender, which are essential in the context of a criminal trial.

Keywords

• International Criminal Court
• life imprisonment
• sentencing
• reviewing of sentences