ABSTRACT
To date, all situations where investigations have been formally opened (pursuant to Articles 15(3) and 15(4) and Article 53(1) of the ICC Statute2) which have been initiated by the ICC since its establishment in 2002 originate in the African continent (these are: Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], Central African Republic [CAR], Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Libya and Côte d’Ivoire)3, and also the ICC’s first conviction as well as its first acquittal concerned African nationals4. This led to criticism of the ICC as an ‘African Criminal Court’,5 criticism which came to a head when an arrest warrant was issued against Sudan’s sitting President Omar al-Bashir.6 Although the African Union
1 I thank my research assistant and doctoral student Sabine Klein for her most valuable support in preparing this chapter. I also thank Dr Phil Clark (London/Oxford) and Dr Gerhard Anders (Zurich) for helpful comments. The paper is accurate as of 18 February 2013.
