Nunca Más (Never Again): Towards a jurisprudential cross-fertilization for the prosecution of the enforced disappearances at the ICC

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the possible transjudicial interaction that may arise between the ICC and the IACtHR with regard to the interpretation of the crime of enforced disappearance of persons. This potential scenario of jurisprudential cross-fertilisation is considered on the fact that both, the IACtHR and the ICC exercise jurisdiction ratione materiae over the crime of enforced disappearance, therefore the same context or situation could be the object of adjudication by both courts either simultaneously or at different times. However, given the undeveloped state of the ICC’s jurisprudence on this crime, reliance on IACtHR jurisprudence provides, therefore, a useful tool for the interpretation of enforced disappearance in the ICC context. In this sense, the present work focuses on the interpretative legal standards of the elements of the crime developed by the IACtHR case law and their utilisation as a potential interpretative tool in the future case law of the ICC. This bearing in mind that Article 21(3) of the Rome Statute provides a legal basis for the recourse to human rights law. Therefore, resort to cross-fertilisation in the case of study may contribute to determining common legal standards at an issue of common concern, thus, ensuring the coherence of international law.