Towards a more effective international criminal court: An examination of the problems and prospects of its complementary jurisdiction

Complementarity is a new scheme for regulating the exercise of jurisdiction between an international criminal judiciary and nation states. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the constitutive agreement which establishes the ICC, has not yet come into force and, therefore, this concept of jurisdiction has still to be put into practice.;This thesis argues that the effective function of the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction is inhibited by the adoption of the concept of complementarity under the Rome Statute. However, complementarity has been chosen by the international community of nations as the mechanism by which jurisdiction over international crimes will be determined. Although this study concludes that the approach of complementarity within the Rome Statute is an inadequate mechanism to facilitate the most effective prosecution of international crimes, it nonetheless accepts the choice of the Rome Statute and further evaluates the potential of the Court and the state in prosecuting international crimes.;More specifically, this thesis explores the problems and prospects of complementarity. The issues that are examined are primarily concerning jurisdiction and admissibility. However, the scheme of complementarity also extends to more practical issues of state co-operation and judicial assistance, which are also explored in this thesis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).