Immunity For State Officials
On 14 February 2002 the International Court of Justice in the ICJ Arrest Warrant Case concluded that State officials may have immunity under international law while serving in office. The court stated that immunity was not granted to State officials for their own benefit, but instead to ensure the effective performance of their functions on behalf of their respective States. The court also stated that when abroad, State officials may enjoy immunity from arrest in another State on criminal charges, including charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity. But the ICJ qualified its conclusions, saying that State officers "may be subject to criminal proceedings before certain international criminal courts, where they have jurisdiction. Examples include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . . ., and the future International Criminal Court."
In 2003 Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was served with an arrest warrant by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) that was set up under the auspices of a treaty that binds only the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. Taylor contested the Special Court's jurisdiction, claiming immunity, but the Special Court for Sierra Leone concluded in 2004 that "the sovereign equality of states does not prevent a Head of State from being prosecuted before an international criminal tribunal or court." The Special Court convicted Taylor in 2012 and sentenced him to fifty years' imprisonment, making him the first head of state since the Nuremberg Trials in World War II to be tried and convicted by an international court. In sum, the question whether a former Head of State might have immunity depends on which international court or tribunal endeavors to try him, how the court is constituted, and how it interprets its own mandate.
Read more about this topic: Universal Jurisdiction
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