workingPaper
Estado de Necesidad: Presupuestos y aplicación en el caso adelantado por la Corte Penal Internacional contra Dominic Ongwen
Fecha
2016Autor
Carcano Fernandez, Lucia
Mahecha Alvarez, Laura Marcela
Pardo Costa, Emely Mar
Martinez Mendieta, Maria Paula
Pedraza, Daniela
Institución
Resumen
On September 6 of 2016, the ICC Office of Public Counsel for the Victims (OPCV) sent the following question that we will attempt to answer in this memorial:
The Defense of Mr. Ongwen has indicated that it will rise at trial grounds for excluding the individual liability of the Accused under article 31 of the Rome Statute and notably the defenses of mental disease or defect and duress. Which elements of the two defenses must be proven in order to exclude individual liability? How said defenses could impact on the interest of victims in the proceedings?
This document aims to answer the question posed by the Victims Unit only with regard the defense by duress. Therefore, it will be necessary to divide the work in two main parts, in order to have a theoretical and practical approach of the issue: First, we will explain the defense of duress and each of its elements according to Article 31 of the Rome Statute and the applicable sources under Article 21 of the same statute, in accordance with the rules of treaty interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969. Secondly, we will analyze specifically the situation of Dominic Ongwen and the possibility of applying duress as a defense; to subsequently conclude, as a legal clinic, that we agree with the arguments given by the PT.Ch to reject the alleged defense of duress, as in the case of Dominic Ongwen the required elements for such a defense are not successfully met.