CYIL 2013

THE ISSUE OF REPARATIONS BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT on the international level, requires the reimbursement of every quantifiable harm, irrespective of whether it is an economic, mental or moral injury. Rehabilitation includes measures such as necessary psychological or medical care, together with social and legal support. Finally, the satisfaction and guarantees of non-recurrence, which are the broadest categories, encompass dissimilar measures, – for instance cessation of violations, official apologies, full public disclosure of the truth, efforts at institutional reform, such as judicial or law reforms, or application of judicial/ administrative sanctions for perpetrators. 3 To sum up, the concept of reparation involves multiple actions and activities which seek to restore the status quo ante, being that state which had been before the conflict occurred and the damage was done. Furthermore, with the exception of guarantees of non-repetition, which is mainly political in nature, the components of reparation are legalistic and usually involve transfers of money. 4 Finally, the issue of reparation cannot be detached from the concepts of ‘corrective justice’, which refers to acknowledging and repairing past harm, and of ‘distributive justice’, referring to distributing property in a fair manner. 5 Legal framework As can be observed in recent decades, there has been a shift in international criminal law towards the greater recognition and centrality of victims, usually parallel to the rise of victim’s rights and restorative justice. 6 The UN has issued a number of legal documents, such as the Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters , adopted under Resolution 2002/12, 7 Handbook on Restorative Justice , or the 2006 Basic principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Humanitarian Law, 8 which recognize the rights of the victims to be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity, access to justice, and redress mechanisms, along with the encouragement of national funds for compensation and the development of appropriate rights and remedies. 9 The framework provided by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (RS) follows this pattern and establishes its own structure. Article 75(1) RS requires the creation of principles relating to reparations, including ‘restitution, compensation and rehabilitation’. Accordingly, the ICC may determine, either at the victim’s request or its own motion, the scope and extent of any damages, loss and 3 J. Miller, R. Kumar, Reparations: Interdisciplinary Inquires , Oxford University Press, New York, 2007, p. 154. 4 K. De Feyter, S. Parmentier, Out of the Ashes. Reparation for Victims of Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violations , Intersentia, Antwerpen- Oxford, 2005, p. 38. 5 Kyle Logue, Reparations and Redistribution , B.U.L. Rev. 1319, 2004, p. 84. 6 C. Hoyle, L. Zedner, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 461-495. 7 Economic and Social Council E/2002/INF/2/Ass.2, July 2002. 8 General Assembly Resolution 147, A/RES/60/147, 21 March 2006. 9 W. Schabas, Introduction to the International Criminal Court , Cambridge University Press, 2012, xiv, p. 548.