The ICC addresses non-cooperation by States Parties: The Malawi decision

Abstract

This article examines the decision, issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC on 12 December 2011, concerning the failure of the Republic of Malawi to comply with the requests of co-operation that the ICC has extended to contracting parties in relation to the arrest and surrender of the indicted Sudanese President al-Bashir. Faced with blatant defiance by African States Parties, as well as a hostile African Union, the ICC has of late no longer restricted its reaction simply to informing the UN Security Council and the Assembly of States Parties of instances of non co-operation, but has also, for the first time, justified why it has found specific states to have violated their Rome Statute obligations by hosting al-Bashir on official visits to their territories.