Abstract

SCHWARZ, Alexander. The legacy of the Kenyatta case: Trials in absentia at the International Criminal Court and their compatibility with human rights. Afr. hum. rights law j. [online]. 2016, vol.16, n.1, pp.99-116. ISSN 1996-2096.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2016/v16n1a5.

As a consequence of the African Union's pressure on the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ASP modified the Rules of Procedure of the ICC to permit the accused to be tried in absentia. This article examines the general requirements under which trials in absentia are possible in light of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, and whether the new in absentia provisions of the ICC are consistent with international fair trial standards developed by the Human Rights Committee, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. The article demonstrates that the increasing acceptance of in absentia trials by international criminal courts tends to overlook the rights and roles of victims in international criminal proceedings. To this end, the article considers whether the macro-criminal character of international crimes may require that victims and witnesses have a public interest to trials in the presence of the accused.

Keywords : right to a fair trial; international criminal law; criminal proceedings; procedural rights; article 7 of the African Charter; article 6 of the European Convention.

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