Complementarity Project

Upon ratification of the Rome Statute, States Parties assume certain obligations in relation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) should the Court issue a request for cooperation such as to locate a witness or act on an arrest warrant.

States are therefore encouraged to review national laws to ensure compliance with the ICC and enable their cooperation with the Court.

In September 2005, the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice launched its Complementarity Project in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Australia, to monitor, assess and advocate for use of the Rome Statute and implementing legislation to promote women’s human rights internationally and within national jurisdictions.

During the course of the project, we:

  • Reviewed existing implementing legislation from a gender perspective and assess implementation of the complementarity principle;
  • Compared ratifications and types of implementing legislation between regions and different legal systems;
  • Assessed and monitored the use of the Rome Statute and the domestic implementing legislation to promote women’s human rights within States;
  • Assessed, monitored and advocated for use of the Rome Statute for law reform to promote women’s human rights including (but not limited to) violence against women;
  • Monitored the use of the Rome Statute by national legal practitioners and judiciary towards the development of domestic jurisprudence; and
  • Assessed the use of the Statute and implementing legislation to:
    • Promote the rights of victims;
    • Increase the number of women and overall gender competence of appointments to national judicial posts;
    • Introduce or strengthen reparations and compensation mechanisms for victims of serious crimes including sexualised and gender-based violations; and
    • Support law reform efforts by Governments and human rights bodies towards land reform and reform of inheritance laws through  compliance with the Rome Statute, including the reparations mechanism of the ICC Trust Fund for Victims.
Overview of Implementing Legislation (pdf) Map