26 March 2021 – OTP draft policies on Cultural Heritage and Situation Completion released for comment

ICC Permanent Premises, The Hague. Photo: by ICL Media Review (rights reserved).

OTP releases two draft policies for comment regarding Cultural Heritage and Situation Completion: On 23 March 2021, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) published a draft Policy on Cultural Heritage, followed by its 25 March 2021 publication of a draft Policy on Situation Completion. Both drafts were released in an effort to fulfill the OTP’s commitment to develop comprehensive policies on these issues, as laid out in the Office’s 2019-2021 Strategic Plan.


The draft Policy on Cultural Heritage aims to build on the OTP’s good practices and experiences to raise greater awareness about the importance of cultural heritage and its role in international criminal law. The draft Policy specifically addresses international crimes against cultural heritage within the Court’s legal framework and seeks to close the impunity gap that currently persists. The drafting process involved consultations with a group of external experts, including experts from UNESCO.


The draft Policy on Situation Completion seeks to illustrate the considerations that the OTP must make while navigating situations in satisfaction of its mandate under the Rome Statute. The draft Policy specifically addresses the “Situation Strategy”, or the OTP’s guideline for deciding whether the docket of cases to be prosecuted (the Prosecutorial Programme) is sufficient, in quantity and variety, for any given investigation. The draft Policy also addresses the relationship between the Investigation Phase and the Prosecution Phase, and the scope of the OTP’s work in both. This includes how the Situation Strategy adapts as an investigation progresses.


To achieve broader external consultation, the OTP is accepting the public’s comments on both draft Policies. Comments for the draft Policy on Cultural Heritage must be submitted by midnight CET on 16 April 2021 to OTPLegalAdvisorySection@icc-cpi.int. Comments for the draft Policy on Situation Completion must be submitted by midnight CET on 21 April 2021 to Office.OftheProsecutor@icc-cpi.int. (; )


 


Post by: Marissa Kardon Weber


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