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Through Which The Rome Statute Of The International Criminal Court, Done In Rome, The Seventeen (17) July In 1998 Day (1998) Is Approved

Original Language Title: Por medio de la cual se aprueba el Estatuto de Roma de la Corte Penal Internacional, hecho en Roma, el día diecisiete (17) de julio de mil novecientos noventa y ocho (1998)

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LAW 742

(June 5)

Official Journal No. 44.826 of 7 June 2002

PUBLIC POWER-LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

By means of which the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is approved, made in Rome, on the seventeenth day (17) of July of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight (1998).

Vigency Notes Summary

The Congress of the Republic

Having regard to the text of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, made in Rome, on the seventeenth day of July (17), from July to the next, and eight (1998), which to the letter reads:

(To be transcribed: photocopy of the full text of the international instrument mentioned).

ROME STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

PREAMBLE

States Parties to this Statute,

Aware that all peoples are united by close ties and their cultures form a common heritage and observe with concern that this delicate mosaic can be broken at any time,

Having in mind that, in this century, millions of children, women and men have been victims of atrocities that defy the imagination and deeply move the consciousness of humanity,

Acknowledging that these serious crimes constitute a threat to the peace, security and welfare of humanity,

Affirming that the most serious crimes of transcendence to the international community as a whole should not be punished without punishment and that, to this end, measures must be taken at the national level and international cooperation must be intensified to ensure who are effectively subjected to the action of justice,

Determined to end the impunity of the perpetrators of these crimes and thus contribute to the prevention of new crimes,

Remembering that it is the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction against those responsible for international crimes,

Reaffirming the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations and, in particular, that States shall refrain from resorting to the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State or in any other form incompatible with the purposes of the United Nations,

Emphasizing, in this context, that nothing in this Statute should be understood as meaning that it authorizes a State Party to intervene in a situation of armed conflict or in the internal affairs of another State,

Determined, for the purpose of achieving these goals and in the interest of present and future generations, to establish an International Criminal Court of a permanent, independent and related nature with the United Nations system that has competence on the most serious crimes of transcendence to the international community as a whole,

Highlighting that the International Criminal Court established under this Statute will be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions,

Determined to ensure that international justice is respected and implemented in a lasting manner,

Have agreed to the following:

PART I.

OF THE COURT SET.

ARTICLE 1 °. THE CORTE. An International Criminal Court ("the Court") is hereby instituted.

The Court shall be a permanent institution, be empowered to exercise its jurisdiction over persons in respect of the most serious crimes of international importance in accordance with this Statute and shall be complementary to the national criminal courts. The jurisdiction and functioning of the Court shall be governed by the provisions of this Statute.

Matches
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ARTICLE 2 °. THE COURT ' S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED NATIONS. The Court shall be bound with the United Nations by an agreement to be approved by the Assembly of the States Parties to this Statute and then to be concluded by the President of the Court on behalf of the United Nations.

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ARTICLE 3 °. COURT HQ. l. The seat of the Court shall be in The Hague, the Netherlands (the host State).

2. The Court shall agree with the host State on the seat to be approved by the Assembly of the States Parties and then conclude the President of the Court on behalf of the Court.

3. The Court may hold sessions elsewhere where it considers it appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of this Statute.

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ARTICLE 4 °. LEGAL STATUS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE COURT.

1. The Court shall have international legal personality. It will also have the legal capacity that is necessary for the performance of its functions and the realization of its purposes.

2. The Court may exercise its functions and powers in accordance with the provisions of this Statute in the territory of any State Party and, by special agreement, in the territory of any other State.

PART II.

COMPETITION, ELIGIBILITY, AND APPLICABLE LAW.

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ARTICLE 5 °. CRIMES OF COURT COMPETITION.

l. The Court's jurisdiction will be limited to the most serious crimes of transcendence to the international community as a whole. The Court shall have jurisdiction, in accordance with this Statute, in respect of the following crimes:

a) The crime of genocide;

b) Crimes against humanity;

c) War crimes;

d) The crime of aggression.

2. The Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression once it is adopted or adopted in accordance with Articles 121 and 123 in which the crime is defined and is set out in the conditions under which it shall do so. This provision shall be compatible with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

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ARTICLE 6 °. GENOCIDE. For the purposes of this Statute, "genocide" shall mean any of the acts mentioned below, perpetrated with the intention of totally or partially destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group such as such:

a) Matanza of group members;

b) Serious injury to the physical or mental integrity of the group members;

(c) intentional submission of the group to conditions of existence that have to result in physical, total or partial destruction;

(d) Measures to prevent births within the group;

e) Trasside by force of children from the group to another group.

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ARTICLE 7 °. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

l. For the purposes of this Statute, 'crime against humanity' shall mean any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population and with knowledge of such attack:

a) Murder;

b) Extermination;

c) Slavery;

d) Deportation or forced population transfer;

(e) Enprison or other serious deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental norms of international law;

f) Torture;

g) Rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable severity;

h) Persecution of a group or collectivity with its own identity founded on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, paragraph 3, or other universally recognised reasons as unacceptable to in accordance with international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or with any crime of the jurisdiction of the Court;

i) Forced Disappearance of People;

j) The crime of apartheid;

k) Other inhuman acts of a similar nature that intentionally cause great suffering or seriously attack physical integrity or mental or physical health.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1:

(a) "Attack on a civilian population" means a line of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against a civilian population, in accordance with the policy of a State or an organisation of commit such an attack or to promote such a policy;

(b) "extermination" shall include the intentional imposition of living conditions, among others, the deprivation of access to food or medicines intended to cause the destruction of part of a population;

(c) "slavery" means the exercise of the attributes of the right of ownership over a person, or some of them, including the exercise of such attributes in the trafficking of persons, in particular women and children;

(d) By "deportation or forced removal of population" means the forced displacement of the persons concerned, by expulsion or other coercive acts, of the person in which they are legitimately present, without any reason authorised by the right international;

e) "torture" shall mean intentionally causing serious pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, to a person whom the defendant has under his or her custody or control; however, torture shall not be understood as the pain or suffering that is they derive only from lawful sanctions or which are a normal or incidental consequence of them;

(f) "Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful confinement of a woman to whom she has been forcibly pregnant, with the intention of modifying the ethnic composition of a population or of committing other serious violations of the law " This definition shall in no way be understood to affect the rules of internal law relating to pregnancy;

g) "persecution" means the intentional and serious deprivation of fundamental rights in contravention of international law by reason of the identity of the group or the community;

(h) "The apartheid crime" shall mean inhuman acts of a similar character to those referred to in paragraph 1 committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination of a racial group over one or more racial groups and with the intention of maintaining that regime;

(i) "Forced disappearance of persons" means apprehension, detention or abduction of persons by a State or political organization, or with their authorization, support or acquiescence, followed by the refusal to admit such deprivation of freedom or give information about the fate or whereabouts of these persons, with the intention of leaving them out of the protection of the law for an extended period.

3. For the purposes of this Statute, the term 'gender' shall be understood as referring to the two sexes, male and female, in the context of society. The term "gender" will have no more meaning than the term.

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ARTICLE 8 °. WAR CRIMES.

l. The Court will have jurisdiction over war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of the large-scale commission of such crimes.

2. For the purposes of this Statute, "war crimes" shall mean:

(a) Serious violations of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely any of the following acts against persons or property protected by the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:

i) intentional homicide;

ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;

iii) The fact of deliberately causing great suffering or seriously harming physical integrity or health;

iv) The destruction and appropriation of goods, not justified by military needs, and carried out on a large scale, unlawfully and arbitrarily;

v) The fact of forcing a prisoner of war or another protected person to serve in the forces of an enemy Power;

vi) The fact of deliberately depriving a prisoner of war or another protected person of their right to be judged legitimately and impartially;

vii) Deportation or illegal transfer, illegal detention;

viii) The taking of hostages;

(b) Other serious violations of laws and uses applicable in international armed conflicts within the established framework of international law, namely any of the following:

i) intentionally direct attacks against the civilian population as such or against civilian persons who are not directly involved in hostilities;

ii) intentionally direct attacks against civilian assets, i.e. goods that are not military targets;

iii) intentionally direct attacks against personnel, facilities, equipment, units or vehicles participating in a peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, provided that have the right to protection granted to civilians or civil goods in accordance with international law on armed conflict;

iv) Launch an attack intentionally, knowing that it will cause incidental loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civil property or extensive, long-lasting and serious damage to the natural environment that would be manifestly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage provided for;

v) Attack or bomb, by any means, cities, villages, homes or buildings that are not defended and that are not military objectives;

vi) Causing death or injury to a fighter who has laid down arms or who, by not having means to defend himself, has surrendered at discretion;

vii) Use of the white flag, the national flag or the military insignia or the uniform of the enemy or the United Nations, as well as the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, and thus cause death or injury severe;

viii) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the occupying power of part of its civilian population to the territory it occupies or the deportation or the transfer of all or part of the population of the occupied territory, inside or outside that territory territory;

ix) To intentionally direct attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, instruction, arts, sciences or beneficence, historical monuments, hospitals and places where sick and injured are grouped, provided that be military objectives;

(x) Submit to persons who are in possession of an adverse part to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by reason of medical, dental or hospital treatment, or carried out in their interest, causing death or seriously endangering your health;

xi) Kill or injure people belonging to the nation or the enemy army;

xii) Declare that no barracks will be given;

xiii) Destroy or commandeer enemy goods unless the needs of war make it imperative;

xiv) Declare abolished, suspended or inadmissible before a court the rights and actions of the nationals of the enemy party;

xv) Force nationals of the enemy party to participate in war operations directed against their own country, even if they had been at the service of the belligerent before the war began;

xvi) Squaring a city or a square, even when taken by storm;

xvii) Use poison or poisoned weapons;

xviii) Employing suffocating, toxic or similar gases or any liquid, material or similar device;

xix) Employ bullets that are easily widened or crushed in the human body, such as hard-shirt bullets that do not fully coat the inside or have incisions;

xx) Employing weapons, projectiles, materials and methods of war which, by their very nature, cause unnecessary damage or unnecessary suffering or have indiscriminate effects in violation of the international law of armed conflicts, the condition that such weapons or projectiles, materials or methods of war are the subject of a complete prohibition and are included in an Annex to this Statute under an amendment approved in accordance with the provisions which, the particular, are listed in articles 121 and 123;

xxi) Cometer attacks on personal dignity, especially humiliating and degrading treatment;

xxii) Cometer acts of rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, defined in paragraph 2 (f) of article 7°, forced sterilization and any other form of sexual violence which also constitutes a serious infringement of the Geneva Conventions;

xxiii) Use the presence of a civilian or other protected person to place certain points, zones or military forces covered in military operations;

xxiv) intentionally direct attacks against buildings, materials, units and means of sanitary transport, and against personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in accordance with international law;

xxv) To intentionally starve the civilian population as a method of waging war, depriving it of the objects indispensable to its survival, including the fact of intentionally hindering the relief supplies of compliance with the Geneva Conventions;

xxvi) Recruiting or alienating children under the age of 15 in the national armed forces or using them to actively participate in hostilities;

c) In the event of an armed conflict other than an international one, the serious violations of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely any of the following acts committed against persons who are not directly involved in hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down arms and persons placed outside combat by disease, injury, detention or any other cause:

i) Attacks on life and bodily integrity, especially homicide in all its forms, mutilations, cruel treatment and torture;

ii) Attacks on personal dignity, especially humiliating and degrading treatment;

iii) Taking hostages;

iv) Convictions and executions without trial before a regularly constituted court, with all judicial guarantees generally recognized as indispensable;

(d) Paragraph 2 (c) of this Article applies to armed conflicts which are not of an international nature, and therefore does not apply to situations of internal tensions and internal disturbances, such as riots, acts of violence, sporadic and isolated from violence or other similar acts;

(e) Other serious violations of laws and uses applicable in armed conflicts that are not of an international nature, within the established framework of international law, namely any of the following:

i) intentionally direct attacks against the civilian population as such or against civilians who do not participate directly in hostilities;

(ii) intentionally direct attacks against buildings, materials, units and means of health transport and against personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in accordance with international law;

iii) intentionally direct attacks against personnel, facilities, equipment, units or vehicles participating in a peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, provided that have the right to protection granted to civilians or civil goods in accordance with international law on armed conflict;

iv) intentionally direct attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, the arts, sciences or beneficence, historical monuments, hospitals and other places where sick and injured are grouped, provided that are not military targets;

v) Squaring a city or square, even when taken by storm;

vi) Cometer acts of rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, defined in paragraph 2 (f) of article 7°, forced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence which also constitutes a serious violation of Article 3common to the four Geneva Conventions;

vii) Recruiting or alienating children under the age of 15 in the armed forces or groups or using them to actively participate in hostilities;

viii) Order the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless required by the safety of the civilians concerned or for imperative military reasons;

ix) Kill or injure an adversary combatant;

x) Declare that no barracks will be given;

(xi) Submit to persons who are otherwise in power in the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by reason of the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person in the case that they are not carried out in their interest, and that they cause death or seriously endanger their health;

xii) Destroy or seize assets of an adversary, unless the needs of the conflict make it imperative;

(f) Paragraph 2 (e) of this Article applies to armed conflicts which are not of an international nature, and therefore does not apply to situations of internal tensions and internal disturbances, such as riots, acts of violence, sporadic and isolated from violence or other similar acts. It applies to armed conflicts taking place in the territory of a State where there is a prolonged armed conflict between government authorities and organised armed groups or between such groups.

3. Nothing in paragraphs 2 (c) and (e) shall affect the responsibility incumbent upon any government to maintain or restore public order in the State or to defend the unity and territorial integrity of the State by any legitimate means.

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ARTICLE 9 °. ELEMENTS OF THE CRIMES.

1. The Elements of the Crimes, which will help the Court interpret and apply Articles 6°, 7° and 8of this Statute, shall be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Assembly of the States Parties.

2. They may propose amendments to the elements of the crimes:

a) Any State Party;

b) The magistrates, by absolute majority;

c) The Prosecutor.

The amendments will be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Assembly of the States Parties.

3. The elements of the crimes and their amendments shall be compatible with the provisions of this Statute.

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ARTICLE 10. Nothing in this part shall be construed as limiting or undermining in any way the existing or developing rules of international law for different purposes. of this Statute.

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ARTICLE 11. TEMPORARY COMPETENCE.

1. The Court shall have jurisdiction only in respect of crimes committed after the entry into force of this Statute.

2. If a State becomes a Party to this Statute after its entry into force, the Court may exercise its jurisdiction only in respect of the crimes committed after the entry into force of this Statute in respect of that State, unless that the latter has made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 12.

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ARTICLE 12. PRECONDITIONS FOR THE EXERCISE OF COMPETENCE.

l. The State that becomes a Party to this Statute therefore accepts the jurisdiction of the Court in respect of the crimes referred to in Article 5.

2. In the case of paragraphs (a) or (c) of Article 13, the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if one or more of the following States are Parties to this Statute or have accepted the jurisdiction of the Court of compliance with paragraph 3:

(a) The State in whose territory the conduct in question took place, or if the crime was committed on board a vessel or aircraft, the State of registration of the vessel or aircraft;

b) The State of which the accused of the crime is a national;

3. If the acceptance of a State which is not a Party to this Statute is necessary in accordance with paragraph 2, that State may, by means of a declaration deposited with the Registrar, consent to the Court exercising its jurisdiction in respect of the of the crime in question. The accepting State shall cooperate with the Court without delay or exception in accordance with Part IX.

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ARTICLE 13. EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION. The Court may exercise jurisdiction in respect of any of the crimes referred to in Article 5 in accordance with the provisions of this Statute if:

a) A State Party refers to the Prosecutor, in accordance with Article 14, a situation in which one or more of those crimes appear to have been committed;

(b) The Security Council, acting in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, refers to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more of those crimes appear to have been committed; or

c) The Prosecutor has initiated an investigation in respect of such a crime in accordance with the provisions of Article 15.

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ARTICLE 14. REFERRING A SITUATION TO A PARTY STATE.

l. Any State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes of the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed and ask the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purposes of determining whether the commission of such crimes should be charged. crimes to one or more specified persons.

2. As far as possible, the relevant circumstances shall be specified in the referral and the supporting documentation available to the complainant State shall be attached.

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ARTICLE 15. THE prosecutor.

1. The Prosecutor will be able to initiate an investigation on the basis of information about a crime of the jurisdiction of the Court.

2. The Prosecutor will analyze the veracity of the information received. To this end, it may collect more information from States, United Nations bodies, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations or other reliable sources it deems appropriate and may receive written or oral testimony. at the seat of the Court.

3. The Prosecutor, if I come to the conclusion that there is sufficient basis to open an investigation, will present to the Chamber of Preliminary Questions an application for authorization, together with the supporting documentation that he has gathered. Victims may submit observations to the Preliminary Questions Room, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Test.

4. If, having examined the request and the documentation justifying it, the Preliminary Questions Board shall consider that there is sufficient basis for an investigation to be opened and that the case appears to correspond to the jurisdiction of the Court, authorise the initiation of the investigation, without prejudice to the decisions which the Court may subsequently adopt with regard to its jurisdiction and the admissibility of the case.

5. The refusal of the preliminary ruling chamber to authorize the investigation shall not prevent the Prosecutor from subsequently submitting another request based on new facts or evidence relating to the same situation.

6. If, after the preliminary examination referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the Prosecutor concludes that the information submitted does not constitute a sufficient basis for an investigation, he shall inform those who have submitted it. This shall not prevent the Prosecutor from examining in the light of new facts or evidence, other information received in connection with the same situation.

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ARTICLE 16. SUSPENSION OF INVESTIGATION OR PROSECUTION. In the event that the Security Council, in accordance with a resolution approved in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, asks the Court to suspend the a period of 12 months for the investigation or prosecution that has been initiated, the Court shall proceed to that suspension; the request may be renewed by the Security Council under the same conditions.

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ARTICLE 17. ELIGIBILITY ISSUES.

1. The Court, taking into account the tenth paragraph of the preamble and Article 1, shall resolve the inadmissibility of a case where:

(a) The matter is the subject of an investigation or prosecution by a State which has jurisdiction over it unless the State is unwilling to carry out the investigation or prosecution or cannot actually do so;

(b) The matter has been the subject of investigation by a State having jurisdiction over it and the State has decided not to initiate criminal proceedings against the person concerned, unless the decision has complied with the fact that it is not prepared to carry out the Or you can't really do it;

(c) The person concerned has already been prosecuted for the conduct referred to in the complaint, and the Court cannot bring forward the judgment in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 20;

d) The case is not of sufficient gravity to justify the adoption of other measures by the Court.

2. In order to determine whether or not there is a provision for action in a particular case, the Court shall examine, taking into account the principles of a process with due guarantees recognised by international law, whether one or more of the following is given circumstances, as the case may be:

(a) That the judgment has already been or is underway or that the national decision has been taken with the purpose of removing the person concerned from his criminal responsibility for crimes of the jurisdiction of the Court, as provided in the Article 5°;

(b) That there has been an unjustified delay in the judgment which, under the circumstances, is incompatible with the intention of bringing the person concerned to justice;

c) That the process has not been or is not being independently or impartially substantiated and has been or is being substantiated in such a way that, under the circumstances, it is incompatible with the intention of making the person appear to be be dealt with in the face of justice.

3. In order to determine the inability to investigate or prosecute in a given matter, the Court will examine whether the State, due to the total or substantial collapse of its national administration of justice or the fact that it lacks it, cannot do so. (a) to appear on the defendant; he does not have the necessary evidence and evidence or is not for other reasons under the conditions of carrying out the trial.

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ARTICLE 18. PRELIMINARY DECISIONS ON ADMISSIBILITY.

1. When a situation has been referred to the Court under article 13 (a) and the Prosecutor has determined that there are reasonable grounds to commence an investigation, or the Prosecutor to initiate an investigation into the virtue of Articles 13 (c) and 15, it shall notify all States Parties and States which, taking into account the information available, would normally exercise the jurisdiction over the crimes in question. The Prosecutor may make the notification to those States in a confidential manner and, where deemed necessary in order to protect persons, prevent the destruction of evidence or prevent the escape of persons, may limit the scope of the information provided to the States.

2. Within the month following receipt of such notification, the State may inform the Court that it is carrying out or has carried out an investigation in relation to its nationals or other persons under its jurisdiction in respect of criminal acts. which may constitute crimes referred to in Article 5 and to which the information provided in the notification to the States relates. At the request of that State, the Prosecutor shall be entitled to his jurisdiction in favour of the State in relation to the investigation of the persons mentioned above, unless the Chamber of Preliminary Questions decides, at the request of the Prosecutor, to authorize the research.

3. The Prosecutor may re-examine the question of the inhibition of his competence after six months from the date of the referral or where there has been a significant change of circumstances in view of the fact that the State is not prepared to conduct the investigation or it cannot actually do so.

4. The State concerned or the Prosecutor may appeal to the Appellate Chamber of the decision of the Preliminary Chamber of Questions, in accordance with Article 82. The appeal may be lodged in summary form.

5. Where the Prosecutor has inhibited his competence in connection with the investigation pursuant to paragraph 2, he may ask the State concerned to report back to him on a regular basis the progress of his investigations and the subsequent trial. The States Parties shall respond to such requests without undue delay.

6. The Prosecutor may, until the Preliminary Questions Board has issued his decision, or at any time if he has been inhibited from his competence under this Article, to ask the Chamber of Preliminary Questions, exceptionally, to authorizes it to carry forward any inquiries it deems necessary where there is a unique opportunity to obtain substantial evidence or there is a significant risk that such evidence is not available at a later stage.

7. The State that has appealed a decision of the Preliminary Matters Chamber under this Article may challenge the admissibility of an issue under Article 19, making new facts important or a significant change in circumstances.

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ARTICLE 19. CHALLENGING THE COURT ' S JURISDICTION OR THE ADMISSIBILITY OF THE CAUSE.

1. The Court shall ensure that it has jurisdiction in all the causes which are subject to it. The Court may, of its own motion, determine the admissibility of a case in accordance with Article 17.

2. They may challenge the admissibility of the case, for one of the reasons referred to in Article 17, or challenge the Court's jurisdiction:

(a) The defendant or the person against whom a warrant has been issued or an order to appear in accordance with Article 58;

b) A State that has jurisdiction in the cause because it is investigating or prosecuting it or has done so before; or

c) A State whose acceptance is required in accordance with Article 12.

3. The Prosecutor may ask the Court to rule on a matter of competence or admissibility. In actions relating to competition or admissibility, they may also submit observations to the Court who have referred the situation in accordance with Article 13 and the victims.

4. The admissibility of a cause or the jurisdiction of the Court may be challenged only once by any of the persons or States referred to in paragraph 2. The challenge shall be made before or before the judgment. In exceptional circumstances, the Court may authorise that the challenge be made more than once or at a later stage of the trial. Challenges to the admissibility of a cause made at the beginning of the trial, or subsequently with the authorization of the Court, may only be based on paragraph 1 (c) of Article 17.

5. The State referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall make the challenge as soon as possible.

6. Prior to the confirmation of the charges, the challenge of the admissibility of a cause or the jurisdiction of the Court shall be assigned to the Chamber of Preliminary Questions. After the confirmation of the charges, it shall be assigned to the Chamber of First Instance. Decisions relating to jurisdiction or admissibility may be challenged before the Appellate Chamber in accordance with Article 82.

7. If the challenge is made by the State referred to in paragraph 2 (b) or (c), the Prosecutor shall suspend the investigation until the Court resolves in accordance with Article 17.

8. Until before the Court has ruled, the Prosecutor may ask for authorization to:

a) Practice the necessary inquiries of the kind mentioned in paragraph 6 of article 18;

b) Make a statement to a witness or receive their testimony, or complete the collection and examination of evidence that has been initiated prior to the challenge; and

c) To prevent, in cooperation with the States concerned, that the action of justice is circumvented by persons in respect of which the Prosecutor has already requested an arrest warrant pursuant to Article 58.

9. Impeachment shall not affect the validity of any act performed by the Prosecutor, nor of any order or commandment dictated by the Court, before it.

10. If the Court has declared inadmissible a cause in accordance with Article 17, the Prosecutor may request that the decision be reviewed when it has been fully satisfied that new facts have appeared which invalidates the grounds on which the case was deemed inadmissible in accordance with that Article.

11. If, in the light of the questions referred to in Article 17 , the Prosecutor suspends an investigation, the Prosecutor may request that the State concerned provide information on the proceedings. At the request of that State, such information shall be confidential. The Prosecutor, if he subsequently decides to open an investigation, will notify his decision to the State whose actions have given rise to the suspension.

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ARTICLE 20. RES JUDICATA.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this Statute, no one shall be prosecuted by the Court for any conduct constituting crimes for which he has already been convicted or acquitted by the Court.

2. No one will be prosecuted by another court because of one of the crimes mentioned in article 5, for which the Court has already condemned or acquitted him.

3. The Court shall not prosecute anyone who has been prosecuted by another court on grounds of facts also prohibited under Articles 6°, 7° or 8° unless the process in the other court:

a) Obey the purpose of subtracting the defendant from his criminal responsibility for crimes of the Court's jurisdiction; or

b) have not been instructed in an independent or impartial manner in accordance with due process guarantees recognized by international law or have been in any way that, in the circumstances of the case, is incompatible with the intention of subjecting the person to the action of justice.

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ARTICLE 21. APPLICABLE LAW.

1. The Court will apply:

(a) First, the present Statute, the Elements of the Crimes and their Rules of Procedure and Test;

(b) Second, where appropriate, the applicable treaties, principles and rules of international law, including the established principles of international law on armed conflict;

(c) In its absence, the general principles of the right deriving from the Court of Internal Law of the legal systems of the world, including, where appropriate, the domestic law of States that would normally exercise jurisdiction over crime, provided that these principles are not incompatible with this Statute or with international law or internationally recognised standards and standards.

2. The Court may apply principles and rules of law in respect of which it has made an interpretation in previous decisions.

3. The application and interpretation of the right in accordance with this Article shall be compatible with internationally recognised human rights, without distinction based on grounds such as gender, as defined in paragraph 3 of this Article. Article 7°, age, race, color, religion or creed, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, economic position, birth or other condition.

PART III.

OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW.

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ARTICLE 22. NULLUM CRIME SINE LEGE.

1. No one shall be criminally liable in accordance with this Statute unless the conduct in question constitutes, at the time when it takes place, a crime against the jurisdiction of the Court.

2. The definition of crime will be strictly interpreted and will not be extended by analogy. In the event of ambiguity, it shall be interpreted in favour of the person under investigation, prosecution or conviction.

3. Nothing in this Article shall affect the classification of a conduct as a crime of international law irrespective of the present Statute.

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ARTICLE 23. NUMELLA POENA SINE LEGE.

Who is found guilty by the Court may be punished only in accordance with this Statute.

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ARTICLE 24. IRRETROACTIVITY RATIONE PERSONAE.

1. No one shall be criminally liable in accordance with this Statute for conduct prior to its entry into force.

2. If the right to a case is changed before the final judgment is given, the provisions most favourable to the person subject to the investigation, prosecution or conviction shall apply.

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ARTICLE 25. INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

1. In accordance with this Statute, the Court shall have jurisdiction over natural persons.

2. The person who commits a crime against the jurisdiction of the Court shall be individually responsible and may be punished in accordance with this Statute.

3. In accordance with this Statute, he shall be criminally liable and may be punished by the commission of a crime from the jurisdiction of the Court who:

a) Comet that crime on its own, with another or through another, whether or not it is criminally responsible;

b) Order, propose or induce the commission of that crime, whether it is consummated or in the degree of intent;

c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of that cri men, be complicit or concealer or collaborate in some way on the commission or the attempt to commit the crime, even supplying the means for its commission;

d) Contribute in some other way in the commission or attempt to commit the crime by a group of people who have a common purpose. The contribution shall be intentional and shall be made:

i) For the purpose of carrying out the activity or criminal purpose of the group, when one or the other enters the commission of a crime from the jurisdiction of the Court; or

ii) Knowing that the group intends to commit the crime;

e) Regarding the crime of genocide, do direct and public instigation to be committed;

f) Try to commit this crime by means of acts that represent an important step for its execution, although the crime is not consumed due to circumstances beyond its will. However, anyone who desists from the commission of the crime or otherwise prevents it from being consumed cannot be punished in accordance with the present Statute for the attempt if I renounce all and voluntarily the criminal purpose.

4. Nothing in this Statute regarding the criminal liability of natural persons shall affect the responsibility of the State in accordance with international law.

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ARTICLE 26. EXCLUSION OF 18-YEAR-OLDS FROM THE COURT ' S JURISDICTION.

The Court will not have jurisdiction over those who were under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crime commission.

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ARTICLE 27. IMPROVENANCE OF THE OFFICIAL POSITION.

1. This Statute shall apply equally to all without any distinction based on official office. In particular, the official position of a person, either Head of State or Government, member of a government or parliament, elected representative or government official, shall in no case be exempted from criminal liability or constituted for Reduce the penalty.

2. The immunities and special rules of procedure involving the official position of a person, in accordance with national law or international law, shall not prevent the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over it.

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ARTICLE 28. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE HEADS AND OTHER SUPERIORS. In addition to other criminal liability grounds in accordance with this Statute for crimes of the Court's jurisdiction:

(a) The military chief or acting effectively as a military chief shall be criminally liable for the crimes of the Court's jurisdiction that have been committed by forces under his effective command and control, or his effective authority and control, as the case may be, as a result of failure to exercise appropriate control over those forces when:

i) You have known or, by reason of the circumstances of the moment, you have to know that the forces were committing those crimes or were committed to committing them; and

(ii) You have not taken all necessary and reasonable measures within your scope to prevent or repress your commission or to bring the matter to the attention of the competent authorities for the purposes of your investigation and prosecution.

(b) In the case of relations between higher and subordinate than those referred to in paragraph (a), the superior shall be liable for the crimes of the jurisdiction of the Court which have been committed by lower subordinates. their effective authority and control, because they have not exercised appropriate control over such subordinates, where:

i) Have been knowingly or deliberately ignored information that clearly indicates that the subordinates were committing such crimes or were committed to committing them;

ii) Crimes shall be related to activities under their effective responsibility and control; and

(iii) You have not taken all necessary and reasonable measures within your scope to prevent or repress your commission or to bring the matter to the attention of the competent authorities for the purposes of your investigation and prosecution.

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ARTICLE 29. PRINTING. The crimes of the Court's jurisdiction will not be prescribed.

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ARTICLE 30. INTENTIONALITY ELEMENT.

1. Unless otherwise provided, a person shall be criminally liable and may be punished for a crime of the jurisdiction of the Court only if the material elements of the crime are carried out with intent and knowledge.

2. For the purposes of this Article, it is understood that the intention is to act-nally who:

a) In relation to a conduct, it is proposed to incur it;

b) In relation to a consequence, it is proposed to cause it or is aware that it will occur in the normal course of events.

3. For the purposes of this Article, "knowledge" means the awareness that there is a circumstance or a consequence is going to occur in the normal course of events. Words "knowingly" and "with knowledge" shall be understood in the same way.

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ARTICLE 31. CIRCUMSTANCES EXEMPTED FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

1. Without prejudice to the other circumstances exempted from criminal liability set out in this Statute, it shall not be criminally liable who, at the time of any conduct:

a) Padeciere of a mental illness or deficiency that deprives him of his ability to appreciate the ilicitness or nature of his conduct, or his ability to control such conduct in order not to violate the law;

b) Study in a state of intoxication that deprives him of his ability to appreciate the ilicitude or nature of his conduct, or his ability to control such conduct in order not to violate the law, unless he has voluntarily intoxicated himself to knowing that, as a result of the poisoning, it would likely incur a standardized conduct as a crime of the Court's jurisdiction, or have ignored the risk that it would occur;

c) I shall act reasonably in self-defense or in a third party or, in the case of war crimes, of a good that was essential for its survival or that of a third party or of a good that was essential for carrying out a military mission, against a use the imminent and unlawful force, in proportion to the degree of danger to it, a third or the protected goods. Participating in a force which shall carry out a defence operation shall not be sufficient to constitute an exemption from criminal liability in accordance with this paragraph;

(d) Any conduct alleged to constitute a crime of the jurisdiction of the Court as a consequence of a joint action of an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to him or another person, and in which it is compelido to act necessary and reasonably to avoid such a threat, provided that he did not intend to cause greater harm than the one he intended to avoid. That threat may:

i) Have been made by other people; or

ii) Being constituted by other circumstances beyond your control

2. The Court shall determine whether the circumstances of the criminal liability which are accepted by this Statute are applicable to the case in which you are aware.

3. In the judgment, the Court may take into account an exemption from criminal liability other than those referred to in paragraph 1 provided that such circumstance disclaims from the applicable law in accordance with Article 21. The procedure for examining an exemption of this kind shall be laid down in the Rules of Procedure and Proof.

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ARTICLE 32. ERROR IN FACT OR ERROR IN LAW.

1. The error of fact will exempt criminal liability only if it makes the element of intentional crime disappear.

2. The error of law regarding whether a certain type of conduct constitutes a crime of the jurisdiction of the Court shall not be considered to be exempt. However, the error of law may be considered as exempt if the element of intentionality required by that crime is removed or if it falls within the provisions of Article 33 of this Statute.

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ARTICLE 33. HIGHER ORDERS AND LEGAL PROVISIONS.

1. Whoever has committed a crime of the jurisdiction of the Court in compliance with an order issued by a government or a superior, whether military or civil, shall not be exempted from criminal liability unless:

(a) You shall be required by law to obey orders issued by the government or the superior in question;

b) I did not know that the order was illegal; and

c) The order was not manifestly illicit.

2. For the purposes of this Article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity shall be deemed to be manifestly unlawful.

PART IV.

OF THE CORTE COMPOSITION AND ADMINISTRATION.

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ARTICLE 34. ORGANS OF THE COURT.

The Court will be composed of the following organs:

a) The Presidency;

b) A Section of Appeals, a Section of First Instance and a Section of Preliminary Issues;

c) The Prosecutor's Office;

d) The Secretariat.

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ARTICLE 35. PERFORMANCE OF THE MAGISTRATE POSITION.

1. All magistrates will be elected members of the Court of exclusive dedication and will be available to serve in that regime since their term of office begins.

2. The magistrates who constitute the presidency will be charged with exclusive dedication as soon as they are elected.

3. The Presidium may, depending on the volume of work of the Court, and in consultation with the members of the Court, decide for how long it will be necessary for the other magistrates to carry out their positions under exclusive dedication.

Decisions to be taken in this regard shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Article 40.

4. Financial provisions relating to magistrates who are not required to perform their exclusive dedication charges shall be adopted in accordance with Article 49.

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ARTICLE 36. CONDITIONS TO BE MET BY MAGISTRATES, CANDIDATES AND THE ELECTION OF MAGISTRATES.

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, the Court shall be composed of 18 magistrates.

2. (a) The Presidency, acting on behalf of the Court, may propose to increase the number of magistrates referred to in paragraph 1 and shall indicate the reasons for which it considers that such an increase is necessary and appropriate. The Secretary shall promptly distribute the proposal to all States Parties;

(b) The proposal shall be examined at a session of the Assembly of the States Parties to be convened in accordance with Article 112. The proposal, which must be approved in the session by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties, shall enter into force on the date of the decision of the Assembly;

c) (i) Once a proposal has been approved to increase the number of magistrates pursuant to paragraph (b), the election of the new magistrates will be held at the next session of the Assembly of the States Parties, compliance with paragraphs 3 to 8 of this Article and with paragraph 2 of Article 37;

(ii) Once a proposal to increase the number of magistrates pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (c) (i) has been approved and has entered into force, the Presidency may at any time, if the volume of work of the Court justifies it, propose that the number of magistrates be reduced, provided that the number is not lower than the number indicated in paragraph l. The proposal shall be examined in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraphs (a) and (b). If approved, the number of magistrates will be progressively reduced as mandates expire and until the number is reached due.

3. (a) Judges shall be chosen from persons of high moral regard, impartiality and integrity who fulfil the conditions required for the exercise of the highest judicial functions in their respective countries;

b) Candidates for magistrates must have:

i) Recognised competence in criminal law and procedure and the necessary experience in criminal proceedings as a magistrate, prosecutor, lawyer or other similar function; or

(ii) Recognised competence in relevant matters of international law, such as International Humanitarian Law and human rights standards, as well as extensive experience in professional legal functions related to the judicial work of the Court;

c) The candidates for magistrate must have an excellent knowledge and mastery of at least one of the working languages of the Court.

4. (a) Any State Party to this Statute may propose candidates in the elections for a magistrate of the Court by:

i) The procedure envisaged to propose candidates for the highest judicial offices in the country; or

ii) The procedure provided for in the Statute of the International Court of Justice to propose candidates for that Court.

The proposals shall be accompanied by a detailed statement of the extent to which the candidate meets the requirements set out in paragraph 3;

(b) A State Party may propose a candidate who does not necessarily have his nationality, but who is in any case a national of a State Party;

c) The Assembly of the States Parties may decide to establish an advisory committee for nominations. In that case, the Assembly of the States Parties shall determine the composition and the mandate of the committee.

5. Two candidate lists will be made for the purposes of the election:

List A, with the names of candidates meeting the requirements set out in paragraph 3 (b) (i); and

List B, with the names of the candidates meeting the requirements set out in paragraph 3 (b) (ii).

The candidate who meets the required requirements for both lists will be able to choose which one they want to figure in. In the first election of members of the Court, at least nine magistrates shall be chosen from the candidates in list A and at least five shall be chosen from the list B. The subsequent elections shall be organised in such a way as to maintain in the Court an equivalent proportion of magistrates on both lists.

6. (a) The magistrates shall be elected by secret ballot in a session of the Assembly of the States Parties convened for that purpose in accordance with Article 112. Subject to paragraph 7, the 18 candidates who obtain the largest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of the States Parties present and voting shall be elected;

(b) In the event that a sufficient number of magistrates are not elected on the first ballot, further votes shall be taken in accordance with the procedures laid down in subparagraph (a) to cover the remaining posts.

7. There shall be no two magistrates who are nationals of the same State.

Every person who, to be elected as a magistrate, may be considered a national of more than one State, shall be considered a national of the State where he habitually exercises his civil and political rights.

8.a) In selecting the magistrates, the States Parties shall take into account the need for the composition of the Court to:

i) Representation of the world's leading legal systems;

ii) Equitable geographical distribution; and

iii) Balanced representation of female and male magistrates;

(b) States Parties shall also take into account the need for the Court of Justices to be specialized jurists on specific issues that include, among others, violence against women or children.

9. (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the magistrates shall be elected for a term of nine years and, subject to paragraph (c) and paragraph 2 of Article 37, shall not be re-elected;

b) In the first election, a third of the elected magistrates will be selected by draw to serve a three-year term, a third of the magistrates will be selected by draw to serve a six-year term and the remainder will serve a nine-year term;

c) A magistrate selected to serve a three-year term of office in accordance with paragraph (b) may be re-elected for a full term of office.

10. By way of derogation from paragraph 9, a magistrate assigned to a Board of First Instance or an Appeal Board in accordance with Article 39 shall remain in office for the purpose of bringing to an end the judgment or the appeal from those who have started to meet in that Chamber.

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ARTICLE 37. VACANTES.

1. In the event of a vacancy, an election shall be held in accordance with Article 36 to cover it.

2. The magistrate elected to fill a vacancy shall serve for the remainder of his predecessor's term of office and, if he is three years or less, may be re-elected for a full term of office in accordance with Article 36.

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ARTICLE 38. PRESIDENT.

1. The President, First Vice President and Second Vice President will be elected by an absolute majority of the magistrates. Each one shall serve for a term of three years or until the end of his term as a magistrate, if the latter takes place before. They may be re-elected once.

2. The Vice-President shall first replace the President when he is unable to perform his duties or has been challenged.

The Vice President shall replace the President when the President and the Vice-President are first unable to perform their duties or have been challenged.

3. The President, first Vice-President and second Vice-President shall be the Chair, who shall be in charge of:

a) The correct administration of the Court, with the exception of the Prosecutor's Office; and

(b) The other functions conferred upon it in accordance with this Statute.

4. In the performance of its duties set out in paragraph 3 (a), the Presidency shall act in coordination with the Prosecutor and seek its approval in all matters of mutual interest.

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ARTICLE 39. THE SALES.

1. As soon as possible after the election of the magistrates, the Court will be organized in the sections indicated in article 34 b). The Appeals Section will be composed of the President and four other magistrates, the Section of First Instance of no less than six magistrates and the Section of Preliminary Issues of no less than six magistrates. The magistrates will be assigned to the sections according to the nature of the functions that will correspond to each one and their respective qualifications and experience, so that in each section there is an appropriate combination of specialists in law and criminal proceedings and in international law. The Section for First Instance and the Preliminary Questions Section will be predominantly made up of magistrates who have experience in criminal proceedings.

2. a) The judicial functions of the Court will be performed in each section by the Chambers;

(b) (i) The Appellate Chamber shall be composed of all the magistrates of the Appeals

;

(ii) The functions of the Chamber of First Instance shall be performed by three magistrates of the Section of First Instance;

(iii) The functions of the Preliminary Questions Room shall be performed by three magistrates of the preliminary questions section or by a single magistrate of that section, in accordance with this Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Test;

(c) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the simultaneous establishment of more than one Chamber of First Instance or Chamber of Preliminary Questions when the efficient management of the work of the Court so requires.

3. (a) The magistrates assigned to the Sections of First Instance and Preliminary Issues shall perform the duties in those Sections for a period of three years, and thereafter until any cause of which they have begun to be completed in the section in question;

b) The magistrates assigned to the Appeals Section will serve in that Section throughout their term of office.

4. The magistrates assigned to the Appeals Section will serve only in that Section. None of the provisions of this Article shall, however, preclude the temporary assignment of magistrates from the Section of First Instance to the Section for Preliminary Questions, or vice versa, if the Presidency considers efficient management to be effective. The Court's work requires it, but in no case can it be a part of the Chamber of First Instance that knows of a cause a magistrate who has participated in the preliminary stage.

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ARTICLE 40. INDEPENDENCE OF THE MAGISTRATES.

1. The magistrates will be independent in the performance of their duties.

2. Magistrates shall not engage in any activity which may be incompatible with the exercise of their judicial functions or undermine the confidence in their independence.

3. The judges who have to carry out their posts under exclusive dedication at the seat of the Court will not be able to carry out any other occupation of a professional character.

4. Questions relating to the application of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be settled by an absolute majority of the magistrates. The magistrate to whom one of these questions relates will not take part in the adoption of the decision.

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ARTICLE 41. WAIVER AND RECUSAL OF THE MAGISTRATES.

1. The Presidency may, at the request of a magistrate, dispense with the exercise of any of the functions conferred upon it by this Statute, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Proof.

2. (a) A magistrate shall not participate in any cause in which, for any reason, his impartiality can reasonably be called into question. A magistrate shall be challenged in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, among other reasons, if he has previously intervened, in any quality, in a cause of which the Court is aware or in a related criminal case (a) to be substantiated at national level and to be related to the person under investigation or prosecution. A magistrate shall also be challenged for the other reasons set out in the Rules of Procedure and Test;

(b) The Prosecutor or the person under investigation or prosecution may request the recusal of a magistrate in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph;

c) The questions concerning the recusal of a magistrate will be settled by an absolute majority of the magistrates. The magistrate whose recusal is requested will have the right to comment on the matter, but will not take part in the decision.

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ARTICLE 42. THE PROSECUTION.

1. The Prosecutor's Office will act independently as a separate body of the Court. He will be in charge of receiving referrals and corroborating information about crimes from the Court's jurisdiction to examine them and conduct investigations or exercise criminal action before the Court. Members of the Fi scalia will not request or comply with instructions from sources outside the Court.

2. The Prosecutor's Office will be headed by the Prosecutor. The Prosecutor will have full authority to lead and administer the Prosecutor's Office, including personnel, facilities, and other resources. The Prosecutor shall be assisted by one or more assistant prosecutors, who may perform any of the functions that correspond to him in accordance with this Statute. The Prosecutor and Assistant Prosecutors will have to be of different nationalities and will be in charge of the exclusive dedication regime.

3. The Prosecutor and Assistant Prosecutors shall be persons who enjoy high moral consideration, who possess a high level of competence and have extensive practical experience in the exercise of criminal action or the substantiation of criminal causes. They must have excellent knowledge and mastery of at least one of the Court's working languages.

4. The Prosecutor shall be elected by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of the members of the Assembly of the States Parties. Assistant prosecutors will be chosen in the same form as a list of candidates filed by the Prosecutor.

The Prosecutor will propose three candidates for each deputy fiscal position to be covered. Unless a shorter period is fixed at the time of the election, the Prosecutor and the Deputy Prosecutors shall be responsible for a period of nine years and shall not be re-elected.

5. The Prosecutor and the Deputy Prosecutors shall not engage in any activity which may interfere with the exercise of their duties or undermine the confidence in their independence. They may not carry out any other occupation of a professional character.

6. The Presidency may, at the request of the Prosecutor or a Deputy Prosecutor, dispense them from intervening in a particular cause.

7. The Prosecutor and the Deputy Prosecutors shall not participate in any case where, for any reason, their impartiality can reasonably be called into question. They shall be challenged in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, among other reasons, if they have previously intervened, in any quality, in a cause for which the Court is aware or in a criminal case connected to a level and which I shall be in relation to the person who is the subject of investigation or prosecution.

8. Questions relating to the recusal of the Prosecutor or a Deputy Prosecutor shall be addressed by the Appellate Chamber:

(a) The person under investigation or prosecution may at any time request the recusal of the Prosecutor or a Deputy Prosecutor for the reasons set out in this Article;

(b) The Prosecutor or the Deputy Prosecutor, as appropriate, shall have the right to comment on the matter.

9. The Prosecutor will appoint specialist legal advisers on certain subjects such as sexual violence, violence for reasons of gender and violence against children.

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ARTICLE 43. THE SECRETARIAT.

1. The Secretariat, without prejudice to the duties and powers of the Prosecutor, in accordance with the provisions of Article 42, shall be in charge of the non-judicial aspects of the administration of the Court and to lend him services.

2. The Secretariat will be headed by the Secretary, who will be the chief administrative officer of the Court. The Registrar shall perform his duties under the authority of the President of the Court.

3. The Secretary and the Assistant Secretary shall be persons who enjoy moral consideration and have a high level of competence and excellent knowledge and mastery of at least one of the working languages of the Court.

4. The judges shall elect the Secretary by secret ballot by an absolute majority and taking into account the recommendations of the Assembly of the States Parties. If necessary, they shall elect, on the recommendation of the Registrar and in accordance with the same procedure, an Assistant Secretary.

5. The Secretary shall be elected for a period of five years in an exclusive dedication and may be re-elected only once. The Deputy Secretary shall be elected for a period of five years, or for a shorter period, if the judges so decide by an absolute majority, in the understanding that he will provide his services as necessary.

6. The Secretary shall establish a Dependence of Victims and Witnesses within the Secretariat. This Office, in consultation with the Prosecutor General's Office, will adopt security measures and security arrangements and provide advice and other assistance to witnesses and victims who appear before the Court, and other persons who are in danger in reason for the testimony given. The dependency will have specialist staff to deal with trauma victims, including those related to sexual violence offences.

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ARTICLE 44. THE STAFF.

1. The Prosecutor and the Registrar shall appoint the qualified officials as necessary in their respective offices. In the case of the Prosecutor, this will include the appointment of investigators.

2. In the appointment of officials, the Prosecutor and the Registrar shall ensure the highest degree of efficiency, competence and integrity and shall take into account, mutatis mutandis, the criteria set out in paragraph 8 of Article 36.

3. The Secretary, with the consent of the Presidency and the Prosecutor, will propose a staff regulation that will establish the conditions in which the staff of the Court will be appointed, paid or separated from the service. The Staff Regulations shall be subject to the approval of the Assembly of the States Parties.

4. The Court may, in exceptional circumstances, use personnel expertise provided free of charge by States Parties, intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations to assist in the work of any of the Parties. organs of the Court. The Prosecutor may accept such offers on behalf of the Prosecutor's Office. Staff provided free of charge shall be employed in accordance with guidelines to be established by the Assembly of the States Parties.

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ARTICLE 45. SOLEMN PROMISE. Before assuming the duties of the office in accordance with this Statute, the magistrates, the prosecutor, the assistant prosecutors, the secretary and the assistant secretary shall declare solemnly and in public session to exercise their duties. their attributions with all impartiality and conscience.

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