Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

OTP Investigation and Prosecution Strategy
Libya Situation
In another decision on 8 September 2011, Pre-
Trial Chamber I in the Libya Situation considered
an application filed by the OPCD on 25 May 2011
concerning statements made by the Prosecutor
and other staff of the Office of the Prosecutor
in a press conference on 16 May 2011 and in
interviews published in The National and El
Pais. 521 The OPCD submitted that the statements
were ‘prejudicial to the rights of the Defence, in
particular, the presumption of innocence’ and
‘impair the integrity of the proceedings … by
portraying as having been established issues
which are for the Court to determine’. 522 It
requested the Chamber to direct the Prosecutor
to publicly clarify that the guilt of the accused
is not established until a decision is made
by the Chamber or, alternatively, to make an
announcement reaffirming the presumption
of innocence. The OPCD further requested the
Chamber to direct the Prosecutor to abstain
from making public statements violating the
presumption of innocence and the rights of the
Defence, and to rule that the names of those for
whom the Prosecutor has filed an application for
an arrest warrant remain confidential until the
Pre-Trial Chamber has issued a decision upon the
request.
of public statements suggesting their guilt
before a conviction by a court … are primarily
of relevance to the issue of presumption of
innocence’, 523 and that ‘the Prosecutor should be
mindful of the suspects’ right to be presumed
innocent until proven guilty’ when making
public statements. 524 The Chamber further took
into consideration that public statements must
be considered in their entirety, and found that
with respect to the contested statements, the
Prosecutor and the Prosecution staff member
had been mindful of the rights of the Defence,
and had expressly stated that the Judges still
had to decide on the Prosecutor’s application.
The Chamber found that the statements were
not prejudicial to the rights of the Defence and
the presumption of innocence or ‘portray … as
having been established issues which are for the
Court to determine’. 525 Pre-Trial Chamber I thus
rejected the request.
The Chamber referred to its previous decision
in the Mbarushimana case, reiterating that
‘allegations of prejudice to suspects on account
521 ICC-01/11-17. See also ‘Press Conference, ICC Prosecutor
– 16 May 2011’, available at , last visited on 25 October
2011, ‘Q&A with Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court’, The National, 18
May 2011, available at ,
last visited on 25 October 2011; ‘Investigamos
más nombres en el árbol genealógico de la represión
en Libia’, El Pais, 23 May 2011, available at , last visited on 25
October 2011.
522 ICC-01/11-5-tENG, para 3.
523 ICC-01/04-01/10-51, para 7.
524 ICC-01/04-01/10-51, para 17.
525 ICC-01/11-5-tENG, para 3.
134