INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO PROSECUTOR V. AHMAD AL FAQI AL MAHDI: JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE & REPARATIONS ORDER (INT'L CRIM. CT.)

摘要

On September 27, 2016, Trial Chamber VIII of the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court) delivered its Judgment and Sentence in the case of The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi. On August 17, 2017, it rendered the Reparations Order in this case. The Court for the first time found a defendant responsible for intentionally attacking protected cultural and religious sites, while relying on specialized treaties for the protection of cultural heritage. It is also the first time that an international criminal court, while drawing on international human rights law, has delivered an order for reparations pertaining to this international crime. The tension between the Court's Judgment and Sentence and its Reparations Order highlights that these two areas of international law, international cultural heritage law and international human rights law, remain unaligned.