Contested Collisions: Conditions for a Successful Collision Management – The Example of Article 16 of the Rome Statute

Abstract

This article examines the problem of colliding international regimes by reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council. Given the different logics or rationalities of these institutions – the Security Council is first and foremost a (power) political organ, while the ICC is in charge of legal assessment – the collision potential is high. A collision rule was therefore introduced into the Rome Statute in the form of Article 16. However, all instances of its application so far have been highly controversial. While norm application is always controversial to some extent, we argue – in reference to Thomas Franck’s work on the legitimacy of international norms – that regime responsiveness, secondary rules or a neutral application control of Article 16 could contribute to a successful collision management.

Keywords: International regimes, UN Security Council, International Criminal Court, Legitimacy, Collision management