International Criminal Law/Justice Databases
The International Criminal Justice Unit is involved in the development and maintenance of two databases widely cited as references by professionals and academics.
Cooperation and Judicial Assistance Database (CJAD) - The Case Matrix Network Knowledge Hub
Dates: September 2013 - ongoing
HRLC International Criminal Justice Unit has developed the Cooperation and Judicial Assistance Database (CJAD) as part of the Case Matrix Network’s Ratification, Implementation and Cooperation Toolkit.
CJAD provides a central information hub and analysis of all aspects of implementing legislation on cooperation relevant to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute in addition to the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Court (APIC).
Through free and universal access to CJAD, States are able to gain knowledge, review, compare and access online information pertaining to cooperation with the Court. In practice, CJAD will function as an add-on to the National Implementing Legislation Database, which forms part of the ICC Legal Tools Project. It was funded by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, European Union and the Royal Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Please see the CMN website for further information.
National Implementing Legislation Database (NILD) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute
Dates: 2006 - ongoing
The National Implementing Legislation Database (NILD) forms part of the ICC's Legal Tools Project, an online knowledge transfer platform developed at the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. The platform provides the general public with free access to the most comprehensive electronic library on international criminal law and justice and consists of over 70,000 documents.
Since 2006, HRLC has had sole responsibility for all components relating to National Implementing Legislation and has developed a dynamic, fully-searchable database of national legislation implementing the ICC Statute. The database has been cited widely as a reference by professionals and academics in online discussions and in other online databases.
NILD provides the following core functions:
- A comprehensive and up to date collection of national legislation that has been adopted by States in relation to the Rome Statute (ICC Acts on Crimes and Cooperation, national criminal codes, criminal procedure codes and other relevant legislation)
- A fully-searchable relational database of all national legislation which enables users to efficiently identify relevant provisions or sections of any, or all legislations, according to approximately 800 purposely-designed keywords or Rome Statute articles
- 'Overviews', short analysis of State's overall approach to implementation, positioned together with State attributes and forming part of the general information on a particular State
- Legal analysis of those provisions that are of particular interest either because they are wider or narrower than the relevant ICC Statute provision, or because they introduce new concepts or notable aberrations
Who will benefit from using NILD?
- Legislators considering or drafting implementing legislation and those monitoring the impact of existing legislation. As legislators are often under-resourced, NILD provides an invaluable tool for evaluating the legislative approaches of other states and enhances capacity to draft effective legislation which incorporates the complexities of international crimes into national law. It can also be used to ensure national legislation is kept up to date with any changes to the Rome Statute.
- Implementers such as Judges, Parliamentarians, police forces as well as prison authorities in states considering ratification of the Rome Statute can use NILD to identify examples of implementing obligations and assist assessment of national capacities to ensure the rights of individuals and the admissibility of a trail.
- Regulators such as Civil society organisations, at the national and international level, will find in NILD a useful tool providing them with easy access to comparative knowledge essential to better monitor implementation of the Rome Statute and effectively plan advocacy campaigns.
- Researchers are provided with a one-stop-shop comparative research tool with unprecedented access to information which is not readily available elsewhere.