Advancing the Impact of Victim Participation at the International Criminal Court: Developing Avenues for Collaboration (2018)
As part of the ESRC IAA project led by Prof Carolyn Hoyle and Dr Rudina Jasini, the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford and the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA) have worked jointly on hosting events centred on victim participation and designing resources for the education and training of criminal justice practitioners, including legal representatives for victims.
On 31 May and 1 June 2018, the Centre and the ICCBA held a workshop and training on victim participation at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This event brought together distinguished scholars and practitioners and offered a forum for intellectually stimulating and engaging discussions on the role and implications of the victim participation mechanism at the ICC. Fifty participants from all over the world attended the event and a certificate of attendance was issued at the end. In addition, 10 points of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) were accredited to all qualified lawyers attending the workshop and training.
On 4 October 2018, the Centre and the ICCBA hosted a one-day workshop on victim participation. The expert workshop held at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Mansfield College in Oxford, focused on specific aspects of victim participation, including theoretical and jurisprudential developments on reparation, presentation of evidence, as well as ethical, psychological and practical considerations concerning victim testimony at the ICC. The panelists offered insightful and thought-provoking views on the future of reparations for victims after the Bemba acquittal and the recent developments of presentation of evidence by victims’ legal representatives at the ICC. The presentations and discussions highlighted the calls to untether reparations for victims of gross violations of human rights from conviction of the accused as well as the need for better assessment of victims’ trauma in eliciting testimony and evidence. (Video recording of the workshop can be accessed on the following link)
In light of the aim of this joint project and with the view to further advance the impact of victim participation at the ICC, the Centre and the ICCBA are currently working on developing a platform for an in-house publication based on the contributions made by all the panelists and papers presented at both events held in The Hague and Oxford. Once finalised, the publication will be made available and accessible on both the Centre for Criminology and the ICCBA websites.