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Relevant Treaties (in reverse chronological order)
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, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, 21 March 2006, A/RES/60/147. عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español
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, Rules of Procedure and Evidence, 9 September 2002, ICC-ASP/1/3. عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español
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Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, July 17 1998, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9 [hereinafter cited as Rome Statute]. عربي, 中文, English, Français, Ελληνικά, Русский, Español
See Article 75: “Reparations to victims”
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, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, A/RES/39/46. عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español
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, Universal Declaration of Human Rights 10 December 1948, G.A. Res. 217 A (III). عربي, 中文, English, Français, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, Русский, Español
See Article 8: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.”
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Official Documents
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ICC Information on Reparations for Victims, available online together with application forms for victims and organizations.
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Trust Fund for Victims, website
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Articles (in alphabetical order by author)
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, An Emerging Mandate for International Courts: Victim-Centered Remedies and Restorative Justice, 47 Stan. J. Int’l L. 279 (2011). Available online. Archived.
This article compares the victim-centered approach to remedies (championed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights) with the more restrictive “cost-centered” model used by the European Court of Human Rights, and examines its application in other international courts as well.
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, Remedial Approaches to Human Rights Violations: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Beyond, 46 Colum. J. Transnat’l L. 351 (2008). Available online. Archived.
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, From the Numbers Who Died to Those Who Survived: Victim Participation in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, 31 U. Haw. L. Rev. 507 (2008-2009).
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, International Recognition of Victim’s Rights, 6 Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 203 (2006). Oxford Journals paywall.
This article advances a historical analysis of victim’s rights and reparations.
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and , Reparations, Microfinance, and Gender: A Plan, with Strategies for Implementation, 44 Cornell Int’l L.J. 75 (2011). Available online. Archived.
This article examines and recommends micro-finance as a mode of delivery for reparations.
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, Pecuniary Reparations Following National Crisis: A Convergence of Tort Theory, Micro-Finance, and Gender, 31 U. Pa. J. Int’l Econ. L. 1, 4 (2009).
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, Getting Reparations for Slavery Right — A Response to Posner and Vermeule, 80 Notre Dame L. Rev. 251 (2004). HeinOnline paywall.
Critiques the work by Posner and Vermeule as somewhat uninformed, before offering his own suggestions for effective forms of reparations and redress;
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, Reconsidering Reparations, 81 Ind. L.J. 811 (2006). Available online. Archived.
Critiques the reparation definition used by Posner and Vermeule as too limited, both in time and in substance, before proffering his own view about effective reparations.
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, Reparations to Victims of Sexual Violence: Possibilities at the International Criminal Court and at the Trust Fund for Victims and Their Families, 20 Leiden J. Int’l L. 208 (2007).
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, Beyond Retribution and Impunity: Responding to War Crimes of Sexual Violence, 1 Stan. J. C.R. & C.L. 217, 220. SSRN paywall.
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, , Transnational Mass Claims Processes (TMCPs) in International Law and Practice, 28 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 101 (2010). Available online. Archived.
This article discusses “mass claims processes,” of reparations on a large scale. It contrasts the views of international mass claims processes and transitional justice claims processes.
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, The International Criminal Court, Article 79, and Transitional Justice: The Case for an Independent Trust Fund for Victims, 28 Wis. Int’l L.J. 234 (2010). Available online. Archived.
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, Victims Once Again? Civil Party Participation Before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, 38 Rutgers L. Rec. 1 (2010). Available online. Archived.
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, The Prospect of ICC Reparations in the Case Concerning Northern Uganda: On a Collision Course with Incoherence?, 2 J. Int’l L. & Int’l Rel. 25 (2006) . HeinOnline paywall.
Cautions ICC to take account of some of the limitations and challenges to reparations power given to ICC. Says that ICC should not implement a reparations scheme alone, but should include scheme as part of a larger transitional justice process; also seems to favor restorative justice to promote reconciliation
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, The Reparation Regime of the International Criminal Court: Practical Considerations, 17 Leiden J. Int’l L. 667 (2002). Cambridge Journals paywall.
Points out issue of actually getting assets from the perpetrators and the problems that could arise (i.e. government cooperation—some governments might have competing claims to those assets, when it is a high official). Also talks about the trust fund likely being under-resourced for purposes of reparations.
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, The Victim’s Trust Fund of the International Criminal Court—Formation of a Functional Reparations Scheme, 17 Emory Int’l L. Rev. 187 (2003). Lexis/Nexis paywall.
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, Extraordinary Justice, 62 Ala. L. Rev. 55 (2010). SSRN paywall.
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, A No-Excuse Approach to Transitional Justice: Reparations as Tools of Extraordinary Justice, 87 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1043 (2010). Available online. Archived.
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, and , Reparations to Victims Before the International Criminal Court: Lessons from International Mass Claims Processes, 17 Crim. L. Forum 317 (2006). SpringerLink paywall.
Overview of the challenges the ICC faces with regard to reparations
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, Reconciling the Conflicting Rights of Victims and Defendants at the International Criminal Court, 26 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 249 (2007). Available online. Archived.
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, Seeking Justice at the International Criminal Court: Victims’ Reparations, 29 T. Jefferson L. Rev. 189 (2006-2007). Available online. Archived.
View: Have more “restorative justice” as opposed to retributive justice because it is more community-oriented and aimed at restoring society through reconciliation; collective reparations.
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and , No Transitional Justice without Transition: Darfur a Case Study, 19 Mich. St. J. Int’l L. 475 (2011).
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, Privatizing Reparations, 84 B.U. L. Rev. 1291 (2004).
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, Changes, Anticipations, and Reparations, 99 Colum. L. Rev. 1657 (1999). SSRN paywall, JSTOR paywall.
In the second half of this piece, he utilizes the lens of anticipatory incentives and concludes that reparations are sound policy for governments looking to avoid causing similar, future harms and having to make payments as a consequence of that future, unwise decision making.
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, Reparations for Massive or Widespread Human Rights Violations: Sorting Out Claims for Reparations and the Struggle for Social Justice, 22 Windsor Y.B. Access Just. 85. Lexis/Nexis paywall.
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, Justifying Compensation by the International Criminal Court’s Victims Trust Fund: Lessons from Domestic Compensation Schemes, 36 Brook. J. Int’l L. 123 (2010). SSRN paywall, Lexis/Nexis paywall.
This article examines Victim Trust Funds of the ICC in comparison with domestic justice schemes.
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, Of Shrines, Memorials and Museums: Using the International Criminal Court’s Victim Reparation and Assistance Regime to Promote Transitional Justice, 16 Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 1 (2010). SSRN paywall, Lexis/Nexis paywall.
Examines potential for building shrines, memorials and museums as a particular form of transitional justice. Concludes that the ICC’s provisions on victim reparations do not preclude this form of reparations.
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, The International Criminal Court and the Failure to Mention Symbolic Reparations (2008). SSRN paywall.
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, Reparations and International Law: How Are Reparations to be Determined (Past Wrong or Current Effects), Against Whom, and What Form Should They Take?, 22 Windsor Y.B. Access Just. 41 (2003). Lexis/Nexis paywall.
International reparations in the context of slavery; mostly with states being the “perpetrators”
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, Reparations to Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations: The Case of Cambodia, 4 E. Asia L. Rev. 277 (2009). Available online. Archived.
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& , Reparations for Slavery and Other Historical Injustices, 103 Colum. L. Rev. 689 (2003). JSTOR paywall.
These authors examine a few different forms of reparations, as well as the legal and moral foundations of those regimes.
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, An Emerging Norm: The Duty of States to Provide Reparations for Human Rights Violations by Non-State Actors, 33 Hastings Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 307 (2010). Lexis/Nexis paywall.
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, What’s Law got to do with it? The Bosnia v. Serbia Decision’s Impact on Reconciliation, 61 Rutgers L. Rev. 131 (2008). Available online. Archived.
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, At the Heart of the Law: Remedies for Massive Wrongs, 27 Rev. Litig. 281 (2008). Lexis/Nexis paywall.
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, Rethinking “Effective Remedies”: Remedial Deterrence in International Criminal Courts, 83 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 693 (2008). Available online.
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, The Victims of Victim Participation in International Criminal Proceedings, 29 Mich. J. Int’l L. 777 (2008). Available online. Archived.
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, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Moral Agency and the Role of Victims in Reparations Programs, 31 U. Pa. J. Int’l L. 257 (2009). SSRN paywall.
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, Rwandan Genocide: Taking Notes from the Holocaust Reparations Movement, 15 Cardozo J.L. & Gender 357 (2009). Available online. Archived.
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, Victims and the International Criminal Court (ICC): Evaluating the Success of the ICC with Respect to Victims, 16 IRV 211 (2009). Available online. Archived.
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and , Reparations and the International Criminal Court: A Prospective Role for the Trust Fund for Victims, International Center for Transitional Justice (2004). Available online. Archived.
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and , Collecting on Moral Debts: Reparations for the Holocaust and Prajmos, 40 Law & Soc’y Rev. 871 (2006). JSTOR paywall, Vlex paywall.
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, , and , American Reparations Theory and Practice at the Crossroads, 44 Cal. W. L. Rev. 1 (2007). Available online. Archived.
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, Victims’ Reparations Claims and International Criminal Courts, 8 J. Int’l Crim. Just. 79 (2010). Oxford Journals paywall, SSRN paywall.
This article compares domestic and international reparations schemes, arguing in favor of domestic approaches for remedial purposes.
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Books (in alphabetical order by author)
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, When Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (Roy L. Brooks ed., 1999). Google Books, Amazon
An analogy on reparations that is particularly insightful.
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, , and , Reparations for Victims of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2006). Brill, Amazon.
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, Commentary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Observers’ Notes, Article by Article (2nd Edition 2008). Amazon.
Article 75 is analyzed by .
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, The Reparation System of the International Criminal Court (Martinus Nijhoff, 2010). Brill, Google Books.
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, , , and , Between Possibilities and Constraints, (Out of the Ashes: Reparation for Victims of Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violations, Antwerp: Intersentia, 2006). Google Books.
Expresses doubts that the trust fund can really work as well as a national reparations system. Points out previous practice with the ICTY and ICTR where they did not have a reparations provision, and thought it’d be best to have a separate one (i.e. separate trust fund) from the courts. Ultimately argues that the trust fund should take leading role over the ICC in reparations.
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, The International Criminal Court, A Commentary on the Rome Statute (2010). Oxford University Press, Amazon.
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, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (2nd edition 2005). Amazon.
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Genocide’s Aftermath: Responsibility and Repair, (Claudia Card & Armen T. Marsoobian eds., 2007). Wiley, Amazon.
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International Criminal Law Forum
International Criminal Court
The Human Rights and International Criminal Law Forum
The Sanela Diana Jenkins Foundation at UCLA School of Law
Luis Moreno-Ocampo ICC Prosecutor
Topic for February 2012 – May 2012
Current Question on Reparations What International Criminal Court reparations regime would be most appropriate for addressing mass atrocities and war crimes?
The Rome Statute provides for a scheme of reparations for victims of crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court, a key innovation for an international criminal court.
Under article 75 of the Statute, the Court may make an order directly against the convicted persons specifying appropriate reparations to, or in respect of, victims, such as restitution, compensation or rehabilitation. The Court may also order reparations to be paid through the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), established by the Assembly of States Parties. The Court has the option of granting reparation awards to individual victims or collective awards through the TFV to an inter-governmental, international or national organization. According to the Regulations of the TFV, it may use voluntary contributions from governments, international organizations, individuals, corporations and other entities to provide physical, psychological or material support to victims of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
Beyond such general framework, article 75(1) gives the Court broad powers to lay down the principles relating to reparation for victims. As the first case before the Court, The Prosecutor v. Lubanga, approaches its closing, a number of questions are being raised regarding the scope of reparations, e.g. the beneficiaries, the type of reparations and sources of funding for reparations.
Crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court are typically massive crimes committed in a systematic and/or widespread manner, resulting in a significant number of victims. It is the policy of the Office of the Prosecutor to select for prosecution a limited number of incidents and charges reflective of the full extent of the victimization. As a result there will be a number of victims not linked to crimes that the accused is convicted of, but which qualify as crimes under the ICC jurisdiction. Are these victims excluded? Can the Court order reparations only to those who apply for it and ignore thousands of other victims?
What type of reparation, if any, can be granted to victims of other crimes committed in the same situation as that investigated by the ICC? Should the reparations be to individual victims or collectively to a category of victims?
What types of reparation are most appropriate to address the needs of victims of massive crimes? Will it be better to order community reparations such as the building of a school or a hospital? Can the Court consider ordering types of reparation other than restitution, compensation or rehabilitation, such as symbolic reparation in the form of admission of guilt or an apology by the convicted person? What measures can be taken to ensure sufficient resources are available for reparation?