Part 4 Composition and Administration of the Court: Composition et Administration de la Cour, Art.51 Rules of Procedure and Evidence/Règlement de procédure et de preuve

Subject(s):

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

This chapter comments on Article 51 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Article 51 sets out the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which have been described as ‘an instrument for the application of the Rome Statute’. They contain more than 225 distinct provisions, many of which are comprised of several paragraphs. The Rules of Procedure and Evidence provide for an intermediate level of legal norms, sitting between the Rome Statute itself and the policies and procedures adopted by the judges. It provides the Assembly of States Parties, which adopts the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, with a flexible mechanism, one that can be amended quickly and efficiently. The Rules of Procedure and Evidence sit at the same level of applicable law as the Elements of Crimes. The former are essentially procedural, the latter substantive.