Th e Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 9 (2010) 127–241 brill.nl/lape Developments at the International Criminal Court Julieta Solano McCausland* Trial Lawyer, Offi ce of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Enrique Carnero Rojo** Ph.D. candidate, Utrecht University, Th e Netherlands Abstract Th is article covers the last year and a half of the activity of the International Criminal Court. Th e Court has continued investigating situations in four countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan and the Central African Republic. Th e judicial activity of the Court has accelerated, with three accused persons undergoing trial and one more waiting for his trial to start. For that purpose, the Chambers have begun to clarify the way in which trial proceedings must be prepared and conducted, including who can be called as witnesses and the extent to which victims can participate in them. Moreover, the fi rst decisions on admissibility of evidence and of the very cases subject to adjudication have been adopted. All in all, during the period of time covered in this article, the Court fully entered into the trial phase of its proceedings. Keywords International Criminal Court; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic, Kenya; Lubanga, Katanga and Ngudjolo; Al Bashir; Abu Garda; international criminal law I. Introduction Th e current article covers developments at the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) from 26 May 2008 to 31 December 2009. During this *) MJur, University of Oxford, 2002. Abogada, Universidad de Los Andes, 2000. Th e views expressed herein are those of the author in her personal capacity and do not necessarily represent those of the ICC. **) Associate Legal Adviser in the Offi ce of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, 2004–2009. LL.M. in Public International Law, University of Leiden, 2003. Law degree, Deusto University, 1997–2002. Th e views expressed herein are those of the author in his personal capac- ity and do not necessarily represent those of the ICC. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 DOI: 10.1163/157180310X502368 Solano McCausland and Carnero Rojo / 128 Th e Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 9 (2010) 127–241 period of time, the Court focused on the same four situations, with an extra emphasis on the situation in Darfur, Sudan, where two new cases were opened. Moreover, authorisation to open investigations was formally requested with regard to the post-election violence in Kenya that took place at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Th e trials in the cases against Th omas Lubanga, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo opened in 2009 and the trial in the case against Jean- Pierre Bemba was scheduled to start by April 2010. In contrast, the pro- ceedings concerning the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Uganda situation, against Bosco Ntaganda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo situation and against Ahmed Harun, Ali Kushayb, Omar Al Bashir and two rebel leaders in the Darfur situation were at a standstill, due to the fact that these individuals had not been arrested nor appeared voluntarily before the Court. Within the latter situation, the confi rmation hearing in the case against Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, who was the fi rst person to appear voluntarily before the Court, was completed in 2009. In terms of case law, the most notable developments during this period include the fi rst Appeals Chamber decision on victims’ participa- tion, which contributed to clarify their role and position, and the fi rst Pre-Trial Chamber ruling on command responsibility under Article 28 of the Statute. Th is article analyses the main developments in the four situations cur- rently under investigation by the Court and the cases opened within such situations: (i) the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Lubanga, Ntaganda, and Katanga and Ngudjolo cases, (ii) Uganda and the Kony et al. case, (iii) Darfur and the Harun and Kushayb, Al Bashir and Abu Garda cases, and (iv) the Central African Republic and the Bemba case. Th e arti- cle ends with a summary of the main legal developments concerning the situation in Kenya, for which the Prosecutor has requested Pre-Trial Cham- ber authorisation to open an investigation. II. Democratic Republic of the Congo On 19 December 2008 the Appeals Chamber ruled against the “proce- dural status of victim” granted by Pre-Trial Chamber I in December 2007, which gave victims general participatory rights in the Prosecutor’s investi-.