ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects Côte d’Ivoire’s challenge to the admissibility of the case and reminds the Government of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo
On December 11. 2014, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire’s challenge to the admissibility of the case against Simone Gbagbo before the Court, and reminded Côte d’Ivoire of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo to the Court without delay.
A challenge to the admissibility of a case before the ICC is granted if the case is being genuinely investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution. For a case to be declared inadmissible, the national investigation and/or prosecution must cover the same individual and substantially the same conduct as alleged in the proceedings before the Court.
After a thorough assessment of the documentation made available to the Chamber, in accordance with article 17(1)(a) of the Rome Statute, the Chamber concluded that Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic authorities were not taking tangible, concrete and progressive steps aimed at ascertaining whether Simone Gbagbo is criminally responsible for the same conduct that is alleged in the case before the Court.
Accordingly, Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected the admissibility challenge. Having found the case against Simone Gbagbo admissible before the ICC, the Chamber reminded Côte d’Ivoire of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo to the Court without delay.
The decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber may be appealed, in accordance with article 82 of the Rome Statute.
