Part 2 Jurisdiction, Admissibility, and Applicable Law: Compétence, Recevabilité, Et Droit Applicable, Art.15bis Exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression (State referral, proprio motu)/Exercice de la compétence à l’égard du crime d’agression (Renvoi par un État, de sa propre initiative)

Subject(s):

Elements of crimes — International criminal law, conduct of proceedings — Evidence

This chapter comments on Article 15bis of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Article 15bis along with article 15ter govern the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court with respect to the crime of aggression. They are part of a package of amendments adopted at the Kampala Review Conference in 2010. Article 15bis governs prosecution for the crime of aggression based upon referral by a State Party or at the initiative proprio motu of the Prosecutor. Its counterpart, article 15ter, deals with referral of a situation involving the crime of aggression by the Security Council. Although article 15bis precedes article 15ter within the architecture of the Rome Statute, in reality the process operates in the opposite order. That is because action under article 15bis is dependent on either action or inaction by the Security Council. If the Security Council determines that an act of aggression has taken place, then either a State Party or the Prosecutor may initiate an investigation.