As part of the joint research project “Length of the Proceedings at the International Criminal Court”, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy) and the International Criminal Law Research Unit of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (ICLU) organized an expert workshop in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 17 February 2020.
Klaus Rackwitz, Director of the Nuremberg Academy, Dr. Viviane Dittrich, Deputy Director of the Nuremberg Academy, and Prof. Christoph Safferling, Director of the ICLU, presented the project and the objectives of the workshop and moderated the various expert sessions. The origins and the development of the scientific study were explained, with reference to the request of the German Parliament to ascertain “with the help of a study of proceedings conducted by the International Criminal Court to date, which factors lead to the disproportionate length of proceedings”.
The workshop was the first opportunity to present the project to practitioners and academics from different fields like international law, international human rights law, international criminal law, and national criminal law. The Nuremberg Academy and the ICLU will analyze the public records and related documents of the cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the aim to identify the legal processes in the procedure of the ICC and practical issues arising outside its legal framework, which impact the length of its proceedings and provide recommendations to make them more expeditious.
Among the participants, the Nuremberg Academy and the ICLU hosted high-level experts, practitioners and scholars, including presidents of international courts based in The Hague, judges, senior officials from the ICC, lawyers, and professors of international law. The 18 participants engaged in fruitful discussions, provided thoughtful comments and shared insights based on their professional experience. Multiple aspects of the length of proceedings in different courts as well as topical questions regarding concepts and methods were discussed.