Hearing the Victim's Voice: Analysis of Victims' Advocate Participation in the Trial Proceeding of the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The recognition of individual victims' rights in international law is in part a result of the atrocities that occurred in the wake of World War I (WWI), World War II (WWII) and the pursuit by the international community of individual criminal responsibility.1 Prior to WWI and WWII, international crimes pervaded the scope of society with little or no accountability placed on the wrongdoer. However, a number of events in recent times have resulted in the replacement of a culture of impunity with a culture of accountability. 2… However, notwithstanding the expansion in the role of the victim and the revolutionary steps taken by the Rome Statute that substantially improve upon the criminal prosecution of international atrocities, there still exists the issue as to what the actual scope of the victims' advocate should be within a proceeding before the International Criminal Court.13 This article tackles the issue of the role of the victims' advocate - particularly what is the scope and procedure of the advocate's participation at trial. 14 The first section, Part II, paints a picture of the historical steps involved with the development of an international criminal system, culminating in the creation of the ICC. It highlights briefly the background information for the topic, delineates the historical context upon which the ICC is based, starting with Nuremberg, moving then to the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR). It emphasizes the movement towards increased recognition of victims' rights. (pg 6).