The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is formulating a Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation. This policy aims to support cooperation and complementarity efforts to encourage and facilitate the compliance of States with their primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute core crimes.

WIGJ joins Human Rights Watch and other organizations in submitting Joint NGO Comments on the draft policy. The submission underlines the importance of transparency and accountability, and advocates for the OTP to undertake a commitment to regular, detailed, and situation-specific public reporting on its preliminary examinations, including what has previously been called “phase 1 situations,” and any other context in which it is actively supporting national proceedings.

We believe that this recommendation will contribute to strengthening the transparency and effectiveness of the ICC, which will be key to realizing victims’ rights within the Rome Statute system.

Read the full submission here.