An Introduction To The International Criminal Court - Institute for ...

116 introduction to the international criminal court
Nations Convention has led some academics to contest the suggestion that
this is a customary norm. 113 Nevertheless, in the Barbie case, the French Cour
de cassation ruled that the prohibition on statutory limitations for crimes
against humanity is now part of customary law. 114
Article 29’s role in the Statute would appear to be part of the complex
relationship between national and international judicial systems. It acts as a
bar to States who might refuse to surrender offenders on the grounds that the
offence was time-barred under national legislation. More than that, Article
29 may effect the prohibition on statutory limitation that the international
treaties have failed to do. 115
113 Steven R. Ratner and Jason S. Abrams, Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International
Law: Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997, p. 126.
114 Fédération nationale des déportés et internés résistants et patriotes et al. v. Barbie, (1984) 78 ILR
125 at 135.
115 William A. Schabas, ‘Article 29’, in Triffterer, Commentary, pp. 204–5.