International Criminal Court and immunity of the head of state

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND THE HEAD OF THE STATE IMMUNITY The thesis deals with the institute of immunities of the head of the state recognized under the international law and with its applicability before the International Criminal Court (hereinafter referred to as "ICC"). The aim of this thesis is to analyze the conflict between two international legal rules which is the obligation to prosecute and punish perpetrators of crimes under the international law, irrespective of the status of the offender, and the exclusion of heads of the state from the criminal jurisdiction because of the immunity that protects its bearer. According to the Rome Statute (hereinafter referred to as "Statute") which established the ICC its contractual party is obliged to surrender any accused person to the Court even if this person enjoys immunity. However another provision of the Statute says that the request for this surrender could be refused by the party if it broke an obligation which this party has against the state whose national is the accused person. The first chapter outlines the formation and the functioning of the Court. Subsequently, the work deals with theoretical terms such as the head of state, the individual responsibility or the immunity. It provides with the types of immunities a person could enjoy..