Lawyers Flip Schüller and Göran Sluiter requested for leave of the International Criminal Court (the ‘ICC’) to file an amicus curiae brief regarding the manner in which the Netherlands has processed the asylum procedure for witnesses in the Lubanga case before the ICC and the role of the ICC Registrar in ongoing domestic litigation. The request was granted on 15 November; this is exceptional.
The brief was filed on 23 November. It outlines the progress of the Dutch asylum proceedings, the role of the ICC Registrar in ongoing domestic litigation and the use of the ICC detention situation by the host State to deprive the witnesses of the protection of Dutch asylum law. After the reaction by the court Registrar, it is expected that the ICC will reaffirm the right of witnesses at the ICC to apply for asylum in the Netherlands.
Previously: