THE ROLE OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The Charter of the United Nations specifically calls on the Organization to help in the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means, including arbitration and judicial settlement, and to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification. The cooperation between the UN and the ICC is governed by a Negotiated Relationship Agreement. In this paper I would like to talk about: Can ICC utilize evidence generated by the UNHR mechanism? Can the UNHR mechanisms support ICC trigger mechanisms for prosecution? And Limitation on the role of UNHR mechanisms. States have primary responsible to respect, protect and promote human rights and bring to justice the criminals. The ICC supplements the national justice mechanisms; therefore, all crimes including international should be primarily prosecuted by the domestic courts. The ICC interferes where the national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes. Hence, it is imperative to explore how the ICC utilizes such evidence and information and to what extend the UNHRM contributes to work of the ICC.