Victims of the gravest crimes: The role of victims in legal proceedings before the International Criminal Court

1 Victims of the Gravest Crimes: The Role of Victims in Legal Proceedings Before the International Criminal Court Abstract This thesis analyzes the role of victims in the proceedings before the International Criminal Court, or the so-called victims' mandate of the ICC. The purpose is to comprehensively introduce their rights as well as the way in which this regulation is being applied. Therefore, the research question has two parts. The first part inquires into the current design of the victim's rights before the Court, while the second asks about the results of its application to the present day. Answers offered by the author of the thesis appear respectively in the second and the third chapter. The first chapter is focused on a historical development of the position of victims in the system of international criminal justice. It is of introductory nature and serves to highlight the historically unprecedented character of the role of victims before the ICC. Regarding the research method, the thesis analyzes the role of victims of crimes prosecuted by the ICC from both, theoretical as well as empirical angle. The purpose is to practically and comprehensively describe the regulation of victims before the ICC but also go beyond the "letter of the law" to see the legal regulation within its material context -..