The Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court: a good governance approach

Abstract

This research is based on an acknowledgment that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) not only established a permanent international criminal court with wide-ranging jurisdiction and its own legal personality but also established the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) as another institution under the Statute. This dissertation focuses on the ASP and its role as the Court’s international judicial governance institution by analysing how it currently exercises governance over the Court and how it should exercise good governance over it. It analyses the objectives underlying the establishment of the ASP and those underlying its governance role towards the Court. It then defines and establishes a standard of good governance applicable to the governance of the ICC based on eight principles: participation; consensus-oriented; the rule of law; accountability; transparency; responsiveness; efficiency and effectiveness; and representation and gender-sensitivity, that act as pillars of such good governance. Finally, it applies this standard of good governance to the exercise of five governance functions by the ASP: the election of the judges of the Court; election of its Prosecutor; exercise of management oversight; adoption of legislative amendments; and the adoption of the Court’s budget. On this basis, this dissertation advances certain recommendations to ensure that the ASP’s governance over the Court adheres to this standard of good governance and is facilitative towards the mandate of the Court.