Under Construction Journal Issue 6.1 UNDER CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL 6.1 | Page 99

conflict at the heart of the Court. This conflict results from States holding either a desire or fear of seeing
an institution having universal jurisdiction over the gravest crimes.
Nevertheless, while this conflict has existed prior to the Court’s inception, at this juncture, it is
imperative to recognise that the next few years will be absolutely crucial as to the future trajectory of the
ICC given that this year, the Assembly of State Parties will select the next Prosecutor of the ICC who will
guide the prosecutorial strategy for the next nine years 51 . While this may not result in any wholesale
change of the operations of the ICC or pacify its critics, whoever is the Prosecutor will have priorities,
strategies and perhaps a different modus operandi to what has come before. As a result, this could lead
to future amicus curiae submissions being supportive of the Prosecutor (FCPAHT), critical (ECLJ) or
something much broader that questions prosecutorial policy like the submissions in the past from Antonio
Cassese and Louise Arbour. 52
However, for now, the question before the AC that the amicus curiae submissions have attempted
to address is whether it should authorise the OTP to open an investigation 53 . This piece would advance
that it should, not in the interests of broader geopolitics of the case but in the interests of justice for those
affected who have suffered greatly.
51
For more information, see “The ICC Prosecutor Elections 2020”, Coalition for the ICC, accessed 20 January 2020,
http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/news/20190807/icc-prosecutor-election-2020.
52
Situation in Darfur, Sudan (Decision Inviting Observations in Application of Rule 103 of the Rules of Procedure
and Evidence) ICC-02/05 (24 July 2006); supra n. 1, 51-52.
53
For further analysis, see “Legal Arguments and War Crimes: the ICC Appeals Hearing on Afghanistan in Five
Questions”, Ehsan Qaane & Sari Kouvo, accessed 19 January 2020,
http://coalitionfortheicc.org/news/20200114/icc-appeals-hearing-afghanistan-five-questions.
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