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    115 - 28 Congo V Belgium

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    Janelle Manzano
    Belgium's Parliament passed a law allowing it to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Based on this law, Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Congo argued that Belgium violated the principle that one state cannot exercise authority in another state's territory and that the Minister had diplomatic immunity. The International Court of Justice ruled that Belgium exceeded its authority by issuing the arrest warrant and that the Minister was entitled to diplomatic immunity as the sitting Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the Court noted that immunity from jurisdiction does not mean immunity from criminal prosecution in all circumstances.

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    115 - 28 Congo V Belgium

    Uploaded by

    Janelle Manzano
    58 views2 pages
    Belgium's Parliament passed a law allowing it to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Based on this law, Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Congo argued that Belgium violated the principle that one state cannot exercise authority in another state's territory and that the Minister had diplomatic immunity. The International Court of Justice ruled that Belgium exceeded its authority by issuing the arrest warrant and that the Minister was entitled to diplomatic immunity as the sitting Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the Court noted that immunity from jurisdiction does not mean immunity from criminal prosecution in all circumstances.

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    Belgium's Parliament passed a law allowing it to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Based on this law, Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Congo argued that Belgium violated the principle that one state cannot exercise authority in another state's territory and that the Minister had diplomatic immunity. The International Court of Justice ruled that Belgium exceeded its authority by issuing the arrest warrant and that the Minister was entitled to diplomatic immunity as the sitting Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the Court noted that immunity from jurisdiction does not mean immunity from criminal prosecution in all circumstances.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    58 views2 pages

    115 - 28 Congo V Belgium

    Uploaded by

    Janelle Manzano
    Belgium's Parliament passed a law allowing it to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Based on this law, Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Congo argued that Belgium violated the principle that one state cannot exercise authority in another state's territory and that the Minister had diplomatic immunity. The International Court of Justice ruled that Belgium exceeded its authority by issuing the arrest warrant and that the Minister was entitled to diplomatic immunity as the sitting Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the Court noted that immunity from jurisdiction does not mean immunity from criminal prosecution in all circumstances.

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    CONGO V BELGIUM

    FACTS

    Belgium's Parliament voted a "law of universal jurisdiction", allowing it to judge people accused
    of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. An investigating judge issued "an
    international arrest warrant in absentia" against Mr. Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, the then
    Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, charging him, as
    perpetrator or co-perpetrator, with offences constituting grave breaches of the Geneva
    Conventions of 1949 and of the Additional Protocols thereto, and with crimes against humanity.
    Congo, in response, instituted proceedings against Belgium for issuing said warrant.

    Congo claims that the international warrant issued by Belgium constituted a violation of the
    principle that a State may not exercise its authority on the territory of another State and argues
    for the diplomatic immunity of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of a sovereign state.

    ISSUE

    Whether or not Belgium exceeded its authority and whether or not the Minister of Foreign Affairs
    is entitled to diplomatic immunity.

    RULING

    Belgium exceeded its authority when it issued the international warrant of arrest against the
    former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Congo. The latter is also entitled to diplomatic immunity.

    The Court found that the issue of the arrest warrant against Mr. Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi,
    and its international circulation, constituted violations of a legal obligation of the Kingdom of
    Belgium towards the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They failed to respect the immunity
    from criminal jurisdiction and the inviolability which the incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs of
    the Democratic Republic of the Congo enjoyed under international law.

    The functions of a Minister of Foreign Affairs are such that throughout the duration of his or her
    office, he or she, when abroad enjoys full immunity from criminal jurisdiction. That immunity and
    inviolability protects the individual against any act of authority of another state which would
    hinder him or her in the performance of duties. No distinction can be drawn between acts
    performed in an official capacity and those claimed to have been performed in a private capacity
    or for that matter, between acts performed before the person concerned assumed office and
    acts committed during that period.

    However, the immunity from jurisdiction enjoyed by incumbent Ministers for Foreign Affairs does
    not mean that they enjoy impunity in respect of any crimes they might have committed,
    irrespective of their gravity.
    Immunity from criminal jurisdiction and individual criminal responsibility are quite separate
    concepts. While jurisdictional immunity is procedural in nature, criminal responsibility is a
    question of substantive law.

    Jurisdictional immunity may well bar prosecution for a certain period or for certain offences; it
    cannot exonerate the person to whom it applies from all criminal responsibility. The immunities
    enjoyed under International law by an incumbent or former Minister for Foreign Affairs do not
    represent a bar to criminal prosecution in certain circumstances:
    ● Such persons enjoy no criminal immunity under international law in their own countries,
    and may thus be tried by those countries' courts in accordance with the relevant rules of
    domestic law.
    ● They will cease to enjoy immunity from foreign jurisdiction if the State which they
    represent or have represented decides to waive that immunity.
    ● After a person ceases to hold the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs, he or she will no
    longer enjoy all of the immunities accorded by international law in other States.
    ● An incumbent or former Minister for Foreign Affairs may be subject to criminal
    proceedings before certain international criminal courts, where they have jurisdiction.

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