Countries must enhance their ability to deal with complex crimes

If the rule of law is strengthened in more and more countries, the International Criminal Court – also known as the court of last resort – would be freer to focus on the gravest crimes that cannot be prosecuted at a national level, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Director of Legal and Constitutional Affairs has said.

“At present the ICC is forced to take on cases that should be tried at national level because some countries lack the capacity to handle them,” said Akbar Khan, a former UK representative to the ICC.

“That is why the Commonwealth Secretariat will continue working with member states in building their domestic capacity to effectively prosecute the most serious and complex transnational crimes, in an effort to strengthen the global fight against impunity,” he added.

Mr Khan was speaking at a Human Rights talk on the ICC - which deals with the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes - that was held at the Secretariat’s headquarters on 19 January.

The Secretariat offers a broad range of assistance to countries wishing to strengthen their national capacities. Programmes include introducing schemes on mutual legal assistance and extradition to help facilitate international co-operation in combating transnational crimes, and developing guides and model legislation to help countries implement laws in complex areas such as anti-terrorism and money-laundering.

One such model law helps countries fulfil their obligations under the Rome Statute, which governs the jurisdiction and functioning of the ICC. This Statute was adopted by 120 states back in 1998 and entered into force four years later, after it was ratified by 60 countries. At present 31 Commonwealth countries have signed up to the treaty.