The Need for an Independent and Effective Prosecutor in the Permanent International Criminal Court Discussion 17 Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice 1999

17 Windsor Y.B. Access Just. 207 (1999)
The Need for an Independent and Effective Prosecutor in the Permanent International Criminal Court

handle is hein.journals/windyrbaj17 and id is 211 raw text is: THE NEED FOR AN INDEPENDENT AND
EFFECTIVE PROSECUTOR IN THE PERMANENT
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
by
Justice Louise Arbour
My primary concern in speaking on international justice and armed con-
flicts here today is to stress the paramount importance of an independent and
effective Prosecutor in the permanent International Criminal Court' which
is in the process of being established. I will address that concern against the
background of my dual experience as Prosecutor for the adhoc International
Criminal Tribunals for both Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, insofar as
it may be relevant to the permanent Court whose foundations are currently
being designed by the international community. Having had the benefit of
overseeing case preparation and prosecutions both in Rwanda and in the
former Yugoslavia, I believe that I can identify issues that are likely to be
widespread, if not universal, and to distinguish them from the idiosyncrasies
of specific cases which should not influence our thinking on the very signifi-
cant issues confronting the international community when it embarks upon
the Diplomatic Conference on the establishment of a permanent Court in
June 1998.
Before I address the necessary building blocks of an independent and
effective Prosecutor, it is necessary to review briefly the historical process
leading to the upcoming Diplomatic Conference to appreciate more fully
how much is at stake when States have now finally reached the point in time
where a Statute is being drafted and the organizational and financial implica-
tions of a permanent Court are being considered. We also need to place the
subject of the independence and efficacy of the Prosecutor in the context of
other critical issues which the States participating in the process have not yet
resolved.
The Long and Winding Road to a Permanent International Criminal
Court
The most serious human rights violations take place during armed con-
flicts, be they international or internal conflicts. This is unfortunately still the
case at the end of the twentieth century. Experience shows that even in
modern warfare thousands of innocent civilians are trapped in cycles of
mindless violence which kills, maims and uproots children, women and the
* Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
and for Rwanda.The paper was presented by Justice Louise Arbour as the Annual
Distinguished Access to Justice Lecture at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, March
5, 1998.1 am grateful for the invaluable assistance of Morten Bergsmo, Legal Officer, Office
of the Prosecutor, ICTY, in the preparation of this paper.
1 B.B. Fercncz, An International Criminal Court, A Step Towards World Peace, Part I & I
(New York: Occana Publications, 1980).

(1999), 17 Windsor Yearbook ofAccess of Justice

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