Ljubljana-Hague Convention: a step forward in the prosecution of international crimes
At the Diplomatic Conference held from 15 to 26 May in Ljubljana, Slovenia, organized by the MLA initiative[1], which includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Argentina, Senegal and Mongolia, the Ljubljana-Hague Convention (hereinafter, the Convention) was adopted after 12 years of negotiation. This document enables cooperation between countries for the investigation and prosecution of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes of concern to the international community.
During the 20th and 21st centuries, millions of children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that have deeply shocked the conscience of humanity. For this reason, the signatory countries have adopted this Convention, which constitutes an important and historic step in the defense of human dignity, human rights and the rule of law. Likewise, the Ljubljana Convention represents a significant step forward in the fight against impunity for the most atrocious crimes against humanity, being the most important in the field of International Criminal Law since the drafting of the Rome Statute, which established the creation of the International Criminal Court and its jurisdiction in relation to the prosecution of such crimes.
The negotiation of the last two weeks involved the work of more than 300 experts in Public International Law and International Criminal Law, resulting in the adoption of a legal instrument consisting of 87 articles.
The preamble of the Convention emphasizes that States have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute the crimes covered by the Convention, which implies that they must adopt all necessary legislative and executive measures to that end. Similarly, the Convention recognizes that the effective prosecution of these crimes at the national level must be ensured through measures to improve international cooperation in judicial matters, taking into account the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States, as well as the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.
As mentioned above, the objective of the Convention, as stated in Article 1, is to facilitate international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, specifically international crimes. It is also important to emphasize the recognition of the criminal liability of legal persons participating in the commission of the crimes that are the material object of the Convention itself.
Among the judicial cooperation measures established by the Convention are mutual legal assistance among the States Parties to the Convention, with specific measures such as joint investigations by the competent authorities of different countries; extradition as an effective measure that allows for the prosecution of international crimes and, consequently, prevents impunity for such crimes; and the transfer of prisoners already convicted of international crimes. Also of particular relevance is the recognition given to victims, as well as the protection of victims and other persons who may intervene in the prosecution process for such crimes, such as experts or witnesses. The Convention also provides for the regulation of the central bodies for cooperation and the dispute settlement procedure.
Existing legal instruments regulating such crimes (Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions) contain limited and outdated provisions on mutual legal assistance and extradition. Likewise, the legal tools that include provisions on judicial cooperation, such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Torture, are only applicable, due to the principle of material jurisdiction, to these specific crimes.
Thus, the Ljubljana-Hague Convention is a legal instrument of a criminal procedural nature, insofar as it affects the prosecution of international crimes; and, also, multilateral due to the plurality of parties that are part of it. The Convention is also a tool for mutual legal assistance that enables expeditious cooperation between States investigating and prosecuting these serious violations of international law. Thus, this document is a legal text to which States may resort in order to provide their national judiciaries with the necessary powers to prosecute the most heinous crimes against humanity.
In her closing remarks of the diplomatic day, the Slovenian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajón, noted that, with this historic adoption of the Convention, “impunity has ended and justice will prevail”.
The Convention is now supported by more than 80 countries around the world.
You can review the Convention here.
Ariadna Puyuelo Martínez, FIBGAR collaborator.
Javiera Martínez Molina, FIBGAR collaborator.
[1] Acronym for Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition.
Madrid, 9 / 06 / 2023
