Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 September 2017
This article evaluates the role of the UN General Assembly (‘UNGA’) and its subsidiary organs in acting as a catalyst for action at the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’). The power of the UN Security Council (‘UNSC’) to make a referral to the ICC has been increasingly challenged in recent years, due to the perceived misuse of the veto by permanent members and general failings to enforce international criminal law in the face of documented atrocities. Meanwhile, the UNGA and its subsidiary organs have exerted meaningful pressure on the UNSC through the creation of commissions of inquiry and country-specific resolutions. There is the possibility for the UNGA to engage in dialogue with the ICC through ‘quasi-judicial’ resolutions, in coordinating collective responses to a recalcitrant State and individual perpetrators and also through the possible assumption of a referral power. This analysis reveals that the UNGA has become increasingly active in international justice and holds the potential for an enhanced role in addressing the failings of the current UNSC-dominated paradigm governing UN–ICC relations, thereby facilitating States in ‘uniting against impunity’.
1 Space precludes evaluation of the claim that the UNSC (specifically, its permanent members) has impeded the ICC's mandate. There is important literature in this respect, which underpins the major assumptions of this article on the deficit within the UNSC to address impunity, of which see: Forsythe, DP, ‘The UN Security Council and Response to Atrocities: The P-5 and International Criminal Law’ (2012) 34 HumRtsQ 840 Google Scholar; Jain, N, ‘A Separate Law for Peacekeepers: The Clash between the Security Council and the International Criminal Court’ (2005) 16 EJIL 239 Google Scholar; Weller, M, ‘Undoing the Global Constitution: UN Security Action and the International Criminal Court’ (2002) 78(4) International Affairs 693 Google Scholar.
2 eg UNGA Res 70/264 (13 May 2016) at preamble.
3 UNGA Res 377 A(V) (3 November 1950); UNHRC, ‘Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’, UN Doc A/HRC/12/48 (25 September 2009) at para 197; UNHRC, ‘Report of the Detailed Findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’, UN Doc A/HRC/25/CRP.1 (7 February 2014) at para 1201.
4 As to relevant Charter powers, see arts 1, 13(1), 55 and 60. This article focuses on how the UNGA is able to complement the ICC's functions, although it is arguable that the UNGA may also establish its own ad hoc international criminal tribunals or investigatory mechanisms under UN auspices, as indeed it recently did with respect to the ‘International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism’ established to investigate crimes in Syria. This analysis is beyond the scope of this article although it has been considered elsewhere: M Ramsden, ‘Uniting for MH17’ (2017 forthcoming) AsianJIL; cf Lemnitzer, JM, ‘International Commissions of Inquiry and the North Sea Incident: A Model for an MH17 Tribunal?’ (2016) 27(4) EJIL 923 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 See art 112, Rome Statute. For an overview: Plessis, M and Gevers, C, ‘The Role of the Assembly of States Parties for the ICC’ in Steinberg, R (ed), Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Brill 2016) 159 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6 On UNGA criticisms, see Schmidt, M, ‘UN General Assembly’ in Bellamy, A and Dunner, T, Oxford Handbook on the Responsibility to Protect (Oxford University Press 2016) 276 Google Scholar.
7 UNGA Res 71/248 (2016), 21 December 2016. The HRC has also passed resolutions calling on States to establish transitional justice mechanisms to ‘combat impunity’: HRC Res 33/L.10 (2016).
8 Art 13, Rome Statute.
9 Art 12(1), UN Charter; Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, ICJ Reports (2004) 136, at 149–50. Indeed, when considering Syrian objections to the establishment of the ‘International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism’, the UNGA President noted that Article 12 of the UN Charter does not prevent it from considering items on the UNSC agenda. Rather, the words that the UNSC ‘is exercising’ in Article 12 has been interpreted to mean as ‘exercising at this moment’. See further: UNGA, 71st Session, 66th Meeting, ‘Resolution Establishing International Mechanism Concerning Syria Passed in Direct Plenary Action’ (21 December 2016) available at <http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/ga11880.doc.htm>.
10 eg UNSC Res 365 (1974); UNSC Res 1998 (2011); UNSC Res 2282 (2016).
11 UNSC Res 1373 (2001).
12 UNSC Res 1343 (2001).
13 UNGA Res 70/14 (17 December 2015) at para 12; UNGA Res 69/122 (10 December 2014).
14 UNGA Res 66/253B (3 August 2012).
15 UNGA Res 47/121 (18 December 1992) at para 10; Bassiouni, MC, Introduction to International Criminal Law (2nd rev edn, Brill 2013) 570 Google Scholar.
16 UNGA Res 69/189 (18 December 2014) at preamble; UNGA Res 71/202 (2017), 26 January 2017, at para 9; UNGA Res 71/203 (2017), 1 February 2017, at preamble.
17 In this respect, the UNGA is a competent UN organ in using fact-finding missions: UNGA Res 46/59 (9 December 1991) at annex, para 7.
18 Frulli, M, ‘Fact-finding or Paving the Road to Criminal Justice: Some Reflections on United Nations Commissions of Inquiry’ (2012) 10(5) JICJ 1323, 1331Google Scholar.
19 ibid.
20 The UNSC also requested the UN Secretary-General to establish a commission for the Central African Republic: UNSC Res 2127 (2013) at para 24.
21 UNGA Res 52/135 (12 December 1997); UNGA Res 55/95 (28 February 2001). However, the role of the UN and UNGA in establishing this tribunal has been criticized, see Hamilton, T and Ramsden, M, ‘The Politicalisation of Hybrid Courts: Observations from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’ (2014) 14(1) International Criminal Law Review 115 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
22 UNGA Res 60/251 (15 March 2006) at para 3.
23 Some of these situations were addressed concurrently in the UNSC, whereas others lacked effective UNSC scrutiny. For an overview, see Kearney, M, ‘Humanitarian Action through Legal Institutions’ in MacGinty, R and Peterson, J, The Routledge Companion to Humanitarian Action (Routledge 2015) 349 Google Scholar.
24 eg HRC Res 4/8 (2007) at para 3; HRC Res 1/106 (2006).
25 HRC Res S-17/17 (2011) at para 1.
26 HRC Res 29/25 (2015) at preamble; HRC Res S-19/1 (2012) at preamble and para 3; HRC Res 29/13 (2015) at preamble and para 3; HRC Res 29/18 (2015) at preamble; HRC Res 32/24 (2016) at preamble and para 6. Non-HRC commissions have also been relied on by the HRC to note possible crimes, as with the AU report on South Sudan: HRC Res 29/13 (2015) at preamble and para 13; HRC Res 34/L.34 (2017) at para 7.
27 Indeed, the HRC recognizes the important plenary function of the UNGA in making recommendations to the UNSC in the field of international criminal justice. For example, the HRC implored the UNGA to recommend the UNSC to refer the Gaza situation to the ICC: HRC Res 16/32 (2011) at para 8.
28 UNGA Res 69/188 (18 December 2014) at para 6; UNGA Res 69/189 (n 16) at preamble; UNGA Res 68/182 (18 December 2013).
29 See eg UNGA Res 68/183 (18 December 2013) at para 1.
30 UNGA Res 69/248 (29 December 2014) at paras 5 and 6.
31 See eg UNGA Res 70/90 (9 December 2015) at para 8; UNGA Res 64/10 (5 November 2009) at para 3; UNGA Res ES-10/9 (20 December 2001) at preamble. See further: Z Yihdego, ‘The Gaza Mission: Implications for International Humanitarian Law and UN Fact-Finding’ (2012) 13 Melbourne Journal of International Law 1.
32 UNGA Res 71/248 (2016) (n 7).
33 UNSC Res1970 (2011) at preamble and para 5. Also, UNSC Res 2040 (2012) at preamble; UNSC Res 2000 (2011) at preamble.
34 Compare eg HRC Res 24/22 (2013) and UNSC Res 2118 (2013); HRC 19/22 (2012) and UNSC Res 2043 (2012); HRC Res 18/19 (2011) and UNSC Res 2040 (2012).
35 UNSC Res 2014 (2011) at preamble.
36 UNSC Res 2226 (2015) at para 17.
37 UNSC Res 1975 (2011) at para 8; UNSC Res 2134 (2014) at para 19.
38 UNSC Res 2140 (2014) at para 6.
39 UNSC, Record of the 7180th Meeting of the Security Council, UN Doc No S/PV.7180 (2 May 2014); UNGA Res 69/189 (n 16).
40 See eg UNSC Res 2270 (2016); Schmidt (n 6) 27–80.
41 Peskin, V and Boduszynski, M, ‘The Rise and Fall of the ICC in Libya and the Politics of International Surrogate Enforcership’ (2016) 10(2) International Journal of Transitional Justice 272, 276–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
42 UNSC, ‘Letter from the Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland’ UN Doc A/67/694–S/2013/19 (16 January 2013).
43 For examples, see Frulli (n 18) 1326.
44 Henderson, C, ‘Commissions of Inquiry: Flexible Temporariness or Permanent Predictability?’ (2014) 45 NYIL 287, 289Google Scholar.
45 UNSC Res 2290 (2016) at preamble. See also HRC Res 29/13 (2015) at para 3.
46 UNGA Res 66/230 (24 December 2012); HRC Res 31/24 (2016). The HRC may become more active following the UN High Commissioner's report on Myanmar, referencing possible crimes, see: HRC, Situation of Human Rights of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar, A/HRC/32/18 (28 June 2016).
47 Harwood, C, ‘Human Rights in Fancy Dress? The Use of International Criminal Law by Human Rights Council Commissions of Inquiry in Pursuit of Accountability’ (2015) 58 Japanese Yearbook of International Law 7 Google Scholar.
48 See ibid.
49 First Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions 1977, 1125 UNTS 3; C Harwood, ‘Will the ‘‘Sleeping Beauty’’ Awaken? The Kunduz Hospital Attack and the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission’ (15 October 2015) EJIL:Talk! available at <http://www.ejiltalk.org/will-the-sleeping-beauty-awaken-the-kunduz-hospital-attack-and-the-international-humanitarian-fact-finding-commission/>.
50 Art 2(7), UN Charter; Henderson (n 44) 302; Yihdego (n 31) 45–6.
51 eg HRC, ‘Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya’, UN Doc A/HRC/17/44 (1 June 2011) para 78.
52 Request for an authorization of an investigation pursuant to Article 15, Côte d'Ivoire, ICC-02/11-3-OTP, Pre-Trial Chamber III (23 June 2011) sections 20, 28, 63, 82 and 152.
53 Öberg, MD, ‘The Legal Effects of Resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly in the Jurisprudence of the ICJ’ (2005) 16 EJIL 879, at 896CrossRefGoogle Scholar (authorities cited there).
54 A World Courts database search returned 795 international decisions citing UNGA resolutions: <http://www.worldcourts.com/index.htm> (accessed 6 April 2017).
55 eg UNGA Res 95(I) (11 December 1946); UNGA Res 44/39 (4 December 1989); UNGA Res 96(1) (11 December 1946).
56 UNGA Res 71/144 (2016), 20 December 2016, at preamble.
57 UNGA Res 66/140 (19 December 2011); HRC Res 24/23 (2013). Recently, the PTC confirmed charges on forced marriage, citing UNGA Res 217(III)A, (10 December 1948) (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art 16 (freedom of marriage)): Decision on the confirmation of charges, Ongwen (ICC-02/04-01/15) Pre-Trial Chamber II (23 March 2016) section 94.
58 UNGA Res 3314 (XXVIII) (14 December 1974).
59 eg Decision on victims’ participation, Lubanga (ICC-01/04-01/06-1119) Trial Chamber I (18 January 2008) section 35.
60 See generally Sluiter, G, ‘Using the Genocide Convention to Strengthen Cooperation with the ICC in the Al Bashir Case’ (2010) 8(2) JICJ 365 Google Scholar.
61 Indeed, the UNGA has discussed immunity of State officials as part of its agenda on codifying the rules on universal jurisdiction: UNGA Sixth Committee, 67th Session, UN Doc A/C.6/67/SR.24 (28 December 2012) section 14. For an analysis of present ICC law, see further M Ramsden and I Yeung, ‘Head of State Immunity and the Rome Statute: A Critique of the PTC's Malawi and DRC Decisions’ (2016) 16(4) International Criminal Law Review 703.
62 Schachter, O, ‘The Quasi-Judicial Role of the Security Council and General Assembly’ (1964) 58(4) AJIL 960, 961CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
63 Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, 21 June 1971, ICJ Rep (1971) 102.
64 UNGA Res 70/88 (9 December 2015).
65 eg UNGA Res 1761(XVII) (6 November 1962); UNGA Res 1103(XI) (18 December 1956); UNGA Res ES-8/2 (14 September 1981); UNGA Res 2145(XXI) (27 October 1966).
66 eg UNGA Res 67/25 (30 November 2012).
67 Treaty of Peace with Italy 1947, UNTS 747, Annex XI; UNGA Res 289 (IV) (21 November 1949).
68 Appl No 13216/05, Judgment of 16 June 2015, section 195.
69 Art 12, Rome Statute.
70 Bassiouni (n 15) 718.
71 ICC OTP, ‘Situation in Palestine’ (3 April 2012) available at <https://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/C6162BBF-FEB9-4FAF-AFA9-836106D2694A/284387/SituationinPalestine030412ENG.pdf>.
72 UNGA Res 67/19 (29 November 2012).
73 ICC, ‘The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, opens a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine’, Press Release (16 January 2015).
74 Request for authorization of an investigation pursuant to Article 15, Situation in Georgia (ICC-01/15-4-Corr2), Pre-Trial Chamber I (17 November 2015) section 54; UNGA Res 63(307) (9 September 2009) at para 1.
75 ICC, ‘Ukraine accepts ICC jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed between 21 November 2013 and 22 February 2014’, Press Release (17 April 2015).
76 UNGA Res 68/262 (27 March 2014) at para 6.
77 Situation in Palestine (n 71).
78 See ICC ASP, Resolutions, available at <https://asp.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/asp/resolutions/Pages/resolutions.aspx>.
79 ASP, ICC-ASP/10/Res5 (2011) at para 6. For a comprehensive analysis on the law and practice of ICC cooperation, see Bekou, O and Birkett, D (eds), Cooperation and the International Criminal Court: Perspectives from Theory and Practice (Brill 2016)Google Scholar.
80 ibid, para 15.
81 ASP, ‘Report of the Bureau on Non-cooperation’, ICC-ASP/11/29 (1 November 2012) at para 20.
82 ibid, para 10.
83 Moffett, L, ‘Elaborating Justice for Victims at the International Criminal Court Beyond Rhetoric and The Hague’ (2015) 13(2) JICJ 281, 306Google Scholar.
84 ibid.
85 UNSC Res 2211(2015) at para 9; UNSC Res 2149 (2014) at para 28; UNSC Res 2164 (2014) at para 13.
86 UNSC Res 1592 (2005) at para 2; UNSC Res 1970 (2011) at para 5.
87 Peskin and Boduszynski (n 41) 272–91.
88 G Cafiero, ‘China's Sudan Challenge’, Foreign Policy in Focus (7 February 2013) available at <http://fpif.org/chinas_sudan_challenge/>.
89 UNSC Res 1591 (2005) (Sudan); UNSC Res 748 (1992) (Libya).
90 UNSC, Record of the 6849th Meeting, UN Doc No S/PV.6849 (17 October 2012) at 23. As to their use, see: Mancini, M, ‘UN Sanctions Targeting Individuals and ICC Proceedings: How to Achieve a Mutually Reinforcing Interaction’ in Ronzitti, N, Coercive Diplomacy, Sanctions and International Law (Brill 2016)Google Scholar.
91 In the Central African Republic, the UNSC imposed targeted sanctions against designated individuals in the Central African Republic who were involved in acts including violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, although not specifically ICC suspects as of yet: UNSC Res 2339 (2017), at paras 16–17.
92 Scharf, M, ‘The Tools for Enforcing International Criminal Justice in the New Millennium: Lessons from the Yugoslavia Tribunal’ (2000) 49 DePaulLRev 925, 943Google Scholar.
93 eg UNGA Res 70/264 (27 May 2016) at paras 2, 10.
94 HRC Res 34/L.38 (2017) at para 6.
95 HRC Res 33/L.31 (2016) para 13.
96 See UNGA Res 71/253 (2017), 26 January 2017, para 17.
97 UNGA Res 60/1 (24 October 2005) at para 117; UNGA Res 53/162 (25 February 1999) at paras 13 and 14; HRC Res 34/L.8 (2017), 22 March 2017, at para 17; HRC Res 34/L.23 (2017), 20 March 2017, at preamble.
98 UNGA Res 71/205 (2017), 1 February 2017, para 2
99 Universal Periodic Review, Database, available at <http://www.upr-info.org/database/>.
100 UNGA Res 65/265 (1 March 2011) (suspending Libya's HRC membership); Moffett (n 83) 307.
101 Forsythe (n 1) 859; Moffett (n 83) 307.
102 Yihdego (n 31) 20.
103 Schmidt (n 6) 278–80.
104 Bowett, DW, ‘Economic Coercion and Reprisals by States’ (1972) 18(1) VaJIntlL 1, 6Google Scholar; Halderman, JW, ‘Some Legal Aspects of Sanctions in the Rhodesian Case’ 17(3) ICLQ (1968) 672 Google Scholar.
105 Farrall, JM, United Nations Sanctions and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2007) 262 Google Scholar; cf White, N, The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security (Manchester University Press 1990) 151 Google Scholar.
106 UNGA Res 69/188 (n 28) at para 8.
107 Criddle, EJ, ‘Humanitarian Financial Intervention’ (2014) 24(2) EJIL 584, 591Google Scholar.
108 UNGA Res 2131 (XX) (21 December 1965) at paras 1–2; UNGA Res 2625 (XXV) (24 October 1970).
109 Constitutive Act of the African Union, arts 4(h), 4(j) (11 July 2000) 2158 UNTS 3.
110 See arts 57(3) and 93(1)(k), Rome Statute. In the context of the ICTY sanctions regime, see Scharf (n 92) at 945 (and citations there).
111 S Talmon, ‘The Legalizing and Legitimizing Function of UN General Assembly Resolutions’ ASIL Unbound (18 July 2014) available at <https://www.asil.org/blogs/legalizing-and-legitimizing-function-un-general-assembly-resolutions>.
112 Art 59.
113 International Law Commission (ILC), ‘Report of the International Law Commission, Fifty-third Session’, UN Doc A/56/10(2001), 10 August 2001, at 365.
114 ibid at 350.
115 Sarooshi, D, The United Nations and the Development of Collective Security (Oxford University Press 1999) 149 Google Scholar.
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117 Voting Procedure, Advisory Opinion, 7 June 1955, ICJ Rep (1955) 67, at 115.
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119 UNGA Res 1761(XVII) (n 65) at para 8; UNGA Res 1807 (XVII) (14 December 1962) at para 8; UNGA Res 2151 (XXI) (17 November 1966) at para 6.
120 UNSC Res 180 (1963); UNSC Res 181 (1963); UNSC Res 221 (1966).
121 UNGA Res 376(V) (7 October 1950) (seeking ‘a unified, independent and democratic government of Korea’).
122 White, N, ‘Relationship between the Security Council and General Assembly’ in Weller, M (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law (Oxford University Press 2015) 308–11Google Scholar; UNGA Res 500(V) (18 May 1951).
123 UNGA Res 703(VII) (17 March 1953) at para 1. See also UNGA Resolution 70/185 (22 December 2015) (urging States ‘to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries that are not authorized by relevant organs of the United Nations’ (emphasis added)).
124 Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Charter), Advisory Opinion, 20 July 1962, ICJ Rep (1962) 151, at 168; White (n 122) 311.
125 von Schorlemer, S, ‘The United Nations’ in Klabbers, J and Wallendahl, A (eds), Research Handbook on the Law of International Organizations (Edward Elgar 2011) 467 Google Scholar; Expenses (n 124) at 168.
126 Art 34, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT).
127 In reaffirming the UN Charter's ‘principles and purposes’, the UNGA noted that ‘the Syrian authorities have failed to prosecute such serious violations’ and ‘demanded’ that Syria give ‘unfettered access’ to the HRC established commission: UNGA Res 67/262 (15 May 2013) at preamble and para 7.
128 UNSC, Record of the 7337th Meeting, UN Doc No S/PV.7337 (12 December 2014) 12 (United States), 13 (Lithuania), 15 (France). The UNGA has also called on States to implement UNSC decisions: UNGA Res 65/105 (10 December 2010) at preamble.
129 UNGA Res 1761 (XVII) (n 65) at para 1.
130 Orakhelashvili, A, ‘Unilateral Interpretation of Security Council Resolutions: UK Practice’ (2010) 2 Goettingen Journal of International Law 823, at 842Google Scholar (and citations therein).
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135 Art 13(b), Rome Statute.
136 Compare arts 10–14, 18, UN Charter. ICC–GA dialogue is also recognized in: ‘Relationship Agreement’, Doc ICC-ASP/3/Res1 (7 September 2004) arts 4(2), 7; approved by UNGA Res 58/318 (13 September 2004).
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143 ibid.
144 ibid.
145 The constitutional possibility of pooling universal jurisdiction was recognized in the DPRK Report (n 3) at 362.
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152 Art 86, Rome Statute.
153 Sloan, B, ‘The Binding Force of a ‘‘Recommendation’’ of the General Assembly of the United Nations’ (1948) 25 BYBIL 1, 7, 16Google Scholar.
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155 Conforti, B, The Law and Practice of the United Nations (Brill 2010) 365 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Namibia (n 63) 50.
156 Art 109(2), UN Charter.
157 Expenses (n 124).
158 See generally Bleicher, SA, ‘The Legal Significance of Re-citation of General Assembly Resolutions’ (1969) 63 AJIL 444, 457CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
159 Sloan (n 153) at 24 (and citations there).
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162 Nouwen and Werner (n 140) 951.
163 Schabas (n 161) 550.
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165 ICC, ‘Proposed amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Report of the Working Group on the Review Conference’, Appendix VI, Official Records of the Assembly of States Parties, Doc ICC-ASP/8/20 Annex II (November 2009).
166 See generally Ford, S, ‘The ICC and the Security Council: How Much Support Is There for Ending Impunity?’ (2016) 26 Indiana International and Comparative Law Review 33 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
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169 UNGA Res 69/189 (n 16) (127 in favour, 13 against, with 48 abstentions: of those, 27 African States voted yes, 21 abstained, and only one voted against (Zimbabwe); UNGA Res 70/172, 17 December 2015 (DPRK) (119 yes, 19 no, 48 abstentions: of those, 22 African States voted yes, 7 no, 21 abstentions).
170 UNGA Res 66(11) (18 November 2011). But see some criticisms of commission impartiality: Stewart, JG, ‘The UN Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon: A Legal Appraisal’ (2007) 5(5) JICJ 1039 Google Scholar.
171 Yihdego (n 31) 20.
172 See (n 1).
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174 UNGA Res 69/248 (n 30).
175 Henderson (n 44) 307.