The Operations of International Criminal Courts and Tribunals in Times of Global Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic has lastingly altered the international (legal) landscape and generated pressing challenges across almost all areas of social life. This finding also holds true for the realm of international (criminal) justice: both on the domestic as well as, particularly, on the international level, the emergence and subsequent spread of the virus has caused wide-spread ramifications for the proper administration of justice, i.e. the prosecution of international crimes and conceiving of subsequent proceedings. The (additional) challenges for conducting (international) criminal trials under pandemic conditions are thus manifold: proceedings, both in the domestic and international context, are hence characterized by intensified procedural obstacles – e.g. such as interruption, adjournment, or stay of proceedings – , practical and logistical difficulties in the courtroom or contingent risks to the health of defendants, witnesses, as well as other participants. While the array of novel challenges to the successful progress of proceedings thus abounds, said factors carry even more weight and are exacerbated with a view towards situations before international criminal courts and tribunals. While these rather lengthy proceedings are oftentimes characterized by a high degree of complexity already under non-pandemic conditions, here, the COVID-19 situation generates further defiance. The number of additional complicating factors is thus considerable: the availability and physical presence of judges (including the possibility for these to travel to the seat of their court in case of non-permanent judicial bodies), the non-availability of witnesses and non-representation of victims due to travel restrictions, or various factor pertaining specifically to the defendants (including their oftentimes advanced age or medical consideration impacting their ability to be transferred for standing trial as well as an eventually high(er) risk for contracting a COVID-19 infection). Additionally, on a more institutional level, the pandemic has also hindered thorough field investigations in situation countries – all that under the additional impression of increasingly massive budgetary constraints in almost all member states due to COVID-19. The present contribution hence seeks to analyse COVID-19-related patterns that have caused ramifications for (ongoing) international criminal proceedings before competent courts and tribunals, including developments such as the postponement of procedural steps, the delayed arrest and transfer of accused, or even the suspension of proceedings. As to that, the contribution will engage in a comparative qualitative assessment of correspondent developments before relevant international criminal courts and tribunals for the time period from March 2020 until (tentatively) June/July 2021.