Principle of Complementarity
- The ICC seeks to complement, not replace, national courts. It prosecutes cases only when states are unable or unwilling to carry out proceedings. This provides an incentive for states to provide justice at the domestic level.
- All states parties should bring their laws into conformity with the Rome Statute and build capacity to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide at the domestic level.
- Even if the motivation of domestic courts is to avoid the ICC, the pursuit of domestic criminal justice conducted to an international standard and the development of new domestic capaci ties should be seen as overall gains.
- More effective pursuit of international crimes at the domestic level will alleviate some concerns that the ICC targets only crimes in certain locations, such as the African continent. Domestic justice, if enforced to certain standards, can carry a high degree of legitimacy, can escape some
limitations to the ICC’s jurisdiction, and can be better suited to the local context. The expan sion of domestic legislation may also result in extra-territorial options that serve to “tighten the net” in respect to perpetrators.
- International prosecutions are expensive and limited by constraints on resources. The focus has increasingly been on those bearing the greatest responsibility. More cases on the do mestic level may make it possible to encompass mid-level perpetrators. On the other hand, domestic courts tend to have even fewer resources. Other transitional justice mechanisms are needed to ensure that redress is available for a large number of victims.
- Building better connections, or complementarity, between international and domestic justice actors entails refocusing international justice efforts away from international tribunals and toward rebuilding domestic justice systems.
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