Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

CHAPTER
13
1 Background
IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ROME STATUTE
IN MALAWI AND ZAMBIA:
PROGRESS,
CHALLENGES AND
PROSPECTS
* LL.B (Hons) (Malawi); PGCHE LL.M; LL.D (Pretoria). Lecturer, Faculty of Law,
University of Malawi.
1 W Schabas An introduction to the international criminal court (2004) 25. Du Plessis and
Ford posit that the creation of the ICC has been of enormous practical and symbolic
significance and has given institutional form to the vision of ending impunity – M du
Plessis & J Ford ‘Introduction’ in M du Plessis & J Ford (eds) Unable or unwilling: Case
studies on domestic implementation of the ICC Statute in selected African countries (2008) ISS
Monograph Series 141 1. Kreß asserts that ‘The establishment in Rome of the ICC in
July 1998 constitutes the culmination of a momentous historical development whereby
a system to repress crime under general international law was combined with the
essentially preventive collective security system under the UN Charter. In future, these
two systems have the potential to form two central pillars of a world order defined by
peace’ – C Kreß ‘The International Criminal Court as a turning point in the history of
international criminal justice’ in A Cassese (ed) The oxford companion to international
criminal justice (2009) 143.
2 B Murungi ‘Implementing the international criminal court statute in Africa: Some
reflections’ (2001) 7 East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights 136. The ICC
represents a unique opportunity for addressing impunity but also faces equally unique
challenges if it has to fulfill its mission – See P Kastner ‘The ICC in Darfur – Saviour or
spoiler?’ (2007) 14 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law 145 153-156. See
also O Oko ‘The challenges of international criminal prosecutions in Africa’ (2008) 31
Fordham International Law Journal 343.
3
See http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/ (accessed 16 March
2010).
277
Mwiza Nkhata*
The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court)
has been hailed as ‘the most innovative and exciting development in
international law since the creation of the United Nations’. 1 The approval,
in July 1998, of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (the
Rome Statute or the Statute) by a conference of diplomatic
plenipotentiaries has been ranked among ‘the most significant events in the
global fight against impunity’. 2 As dictated by article 126, the Rome
Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after the treaty’s ratification by 60
state parties. 3 The Court, which is the first permanent, treaty based,