A victimological analysis on the role and function of the International Criminal Court with specific reference to the participationrights of victims.

M.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2015.The International Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC) is a permanent international judicial tribunal which plays a vital role in combating international crimes. It was established in 1998 by the international community after much effort and negotiation. The creation of the ICC made a significant change in International Criminal Justice. The Rome Statute instituted the ICC as a lasting organization with authority over persons committing international crimes. The Rome Statute of the ICC has been designed as a broad victims’ participation scheme. Even though it is addressed as a significant and effective mechanism for giving victims of international crimes a voice, the procedural and substantive detail are far from being settled. The aim of this paper is to give a critical overview on victims’ participatory scheme within the ICC. It analyses what meaningful participation denotes and the interpretation of victims’ participatory rights at the International Criminal Court. The paper critically reviews suggestions to amend the way in which victims may participate in court proceedings at the ICC. The findings from this paper illustrate which kind of amendments have to be done on victims’ participatory scheme within the ICC to fit victims’ satisfaction