Satisfaction and State Responsibility at the International Criminal Court: The Curious Crime of Aggression

In the event of a case of a crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Court will have to determine the existence of State conduct of an act of aggression pursuant to the definition of the crime in Article 8 bis the Rome Statute of the ICC (Rome Statute). The uniqueness of this international crime is that an act of aggression, as an internationally wrongful act is a conditio sine qua non for the crime of aggression. As the ICC is not an inter-State court, a curious dimension arises as the Court will have to engage with State responsibility for aggression in addition to individual criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression. In accordance with the law of State responsibility, every internationally wrongful act entails an obligation on the wrongdoing State to make full reparation for injury caused by the wrongful act. As the ICC has jurisdiction over State conduct in relation to an act of aggression, this chapter enquires whether the Court may award reparation for the aforementioned internationally wrongful act. Whilst States Parties to the Rome Statute have conferred powers to the ICC to determine an act of aggression, the Court cannot award restitution or compensation at the inter-State level as this is not provided in the Rome Statute. That said, the Rome Statute does provide possible modalities of satisfaction as a reparation for an act of aggression.