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The Centre for the Study of International Law and Globalisation (CEDIM), with the support of the JEHT Foundation, is currently engaged on a research project on the role of civil society with respect to the International Criminal Court and the fight against impunity. Bruce Broomhall, the Director of the CEDIM, and Bernard Duhaime are the professors responsible for the project, which is coordinated by Aurélie Arnaud. Research support is provided by LL.M. students Arnaud Meffre, Pierre-Etienne Paradis, Francis Pilotte, Teresa Plana Casado and Caroline Walter.

Purpose of the Project

The project’s immediate goal is to undertake research aimed at “mapping” to the extent reasonably possible the relevant international justice-related work that is currently being done by civil society around the world. The work highlights key elements in donor and NGO activity in the area of international justice, clarify the dynamics that typically inform activity in this area, give some sense of the players involved and projects underway in the short- to medium-term, and indicate longer-term needs and trends in order to clarify issues that merit further attention. The aim of this work is to better inform those who may participate in a Global Fund for Justice in order to advance discussions as to the role that such a Fund, if established, would play. This research project is premised on a pragmatic and an empirical approach. It believes that only on the basis of a reasonably sufficient inventory of real-world activities and scenarios can a meaningful contribution be made to the present initiative.

Context of the Research

This project is set framed within the remarkable transformation that has taken place in recent years, and which is marked by the international community’s growing commitment to holding perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to account. While the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force, the exercise of universal and other forms of jurisdiction has increased, with attention to crimes of sexual violence, victims’ protection and reparation, and the impact of atrocities on democracy-building and the rule of law. It has given international justice the profile and the substance to emerge as an undeniable factor in conflict management and post-conflict reconstruction.

At every stage of this process, international civil society has been an essential actor, cajoling government, mobilizing the public, disseminating research and throwing a spotlight on abuses around the world. At the same time, legal, political and bureaucratic obstacles abound, interstate cooperation often lacks, and national progress is frequently endangered by domestic political factors. On the geopolitical level, the opposition of the United States to the ICC threatens to undermine not just the Court, but the overall trend towards reinforcing accountability itself.

The research concentrates on a number of key actors involved in international justice initiatives

The ICC : The project adopted as its framework for analysis the system which puts the ICC at the international level as a jurisdiction of last resort, limited by the principle of complementarity to situations in which national systems fail in their duty to bring perpetrators to account for the crimes defined in the Rome Statute. This new international arrangement between States and the ICC has highlighted a host of shortcomings in the level of preparedness of States with respect to the duties that have now befallen them.

The States and national initiatives: This project accords primary attention to needs within particular States, between States (i.e. mutual legal assistance), and between States and the ICC (cooperation required of all States Parties by the Rome Statute). The project also addresses initiatives directed towards the International Criminal Court itself or, to a lesser extent, towards other international or hybrid tribunals (Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Rwanda, Ex-Yugoslavia). The focus of the research will be largely confined to States Parties, that is, to the jurisdiction of the 99 States which at present have ratified the Rome Statute. These States have made a binding commitment to end impunity for the gravest international crimes, have in many cases taken steps to amend their national legal systems accordingly, and are most prone to feel pressure from the complementarity system of the International Criminal Court.

Civil society: The focus is on the role of civil society in promoting the development and application of the system of international justice. The classic civil society actor is the (national or international) non-governmental organization, which is the focus of much of this project’s analysis, however a number of other relevant actors from the civil society, such as bar associations, academic centers, law firms, individuals, are also taken into consideration.

The Funders: Foundations along with governmental or inter-governmental agencies play a significant role in international justice through financing initiatives in different areas (criminal reform, reform of justice, peace building and post-conflict management, democracy, governance, human rights…)

About the Researchers

Professor Bruce Broomhall is CEDIM’s director, working closely with Professors Duhaime and other members of the Centre (listed here).

Prior to taking up his position at UQAM in August 2004, Bruce Broomhall was Senior Legal Officer for International Justice at the Open Society Justice Initiative. In this capacity, he coordinated projects documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia for purposes of referral to the ICC, enhancing the role of international and national NGOs in the process of bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to account in Cambodia, and promoting the ratification and implementation of the ICC Statute in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Before arriving at UQAM in June 2004, Bernard Duhaime was staff attorney at the Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, where he has occupied the position of human rights specialist for several countries including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and Panama. He often collaborates as expert counsel with specialized human rights institutions, including the IACHR and Rights and Democracy. Professor Duhaime is a member of the Quebec Bar.