The Role of the Prosecutor in the Collection and Evaluation of Evidence in the International Criminal Court

Abstract

In international criminal practice, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the most important body for addressing crimes and accusations, operating based on the Rome Statute. For the Court to carry out its functions and activities, it must have standardized criminal procedures, one of which is the collection and evaluation of evidence by the Prosecutor. The Prosecutor is tasked with gathering evidence related to the committed crimes and submitting them for trial. Although the collection and evaluation of evidence by the ICC Prosecutor is derived from the common law legal system, it goes beyond the scope of this legal system by undertaking much broader actions to access available documents and evidence. However, certain challenges are evident in the Court's judicial practice. The aim of this article is to examine these challenges and highlight their weaknesses, which can be observed in various cases. Therefore, through a descriptive-analytical and library-based method, this study examines the role of the Prosecutor in the collection and evaluation of evidence in the ICC. The findings indicate that, based on the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor plays a crucial role in the collection and evaluation of evidence. However, in practice, as seen in the Gbagbo case, the Court may entirely reject the Prosecutor's evidence, which stems from the weaknesses of the Prosecutor and particularly the Office of the Prosecutor. Depending on the different prosecutors, the Court may witness varying practices.