CAPACITY OF A CHILD TO ACT IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
CAPACITY OF A CHILD TO ACT IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Summary/Abstract: In order to properly approach the question of legal capacity of children to act in the proceedings before the ICC, three problems should be distinguished: the problem of legal capacity, the problem of representation, and the evidential rules. An analysis of the requirements of an application for participation in the proceedings as a victim and the requirement of informed consent in the case of a witness leads to the conclusion that capacity to act in the proceedings before the ICC is available to persons who are capable of giving consent. The legal validity of consent should be subject to the law of the nationality, the law of the country of domicile, or the country of habitual residence. The representation of a child before the ICC is not regulated. It should be assumed that in the first instance the parents are designated to represent the child, in the second – it is a guardian, and in the third – other adult, in respect of whom the ICC finds it satisfactory that they are acting in the best interests of the child. Rules of evidence pertaining to the circumstances on which the capacity to act and the right of representation of a child are founded encompass standards of proof, means of evidence, burden of proof and presumption in favour of a child’s participation. The normative framework of children’s participation in the proceedings before the ICC is characterised by the preponderance of lacunae over matter expressly regulated. It poses a risk of nullification of a child’s right to be heard.

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