International Labour Organization Rules ICC at Fault and Owes Damages to Officials on Libya Case (June 26, 2018) [1]
On June 26, 2018, the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued a judgment [3] in A. v. ICC, stating that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was at fault in the Libyan government’s detention of four ICC officials in June 2012 while there on Court business and ordering 340,000 euros in moral damages to two of the individuals. In its determination of damages, the Tribunal considered that the complainant’s detention was a direct result of the ICC’s failure to prepare for the mission and the damage the individuals suffered while in detention in Libya. The award “addresses the damage to their psychological well-being as well as to their public and private relations – due to the stress, and difficulties in traveling, due to the ongoing charges against them in Libya and the defamation of their characters which would have been mitigated if the ICC had issued a statement asserting their innocence immediately instead of waiting until the Libyan accusations had been widely publicized.” Additionally, the ILO noted that the complainant was subject to continued mistreatment by the ICC Registrar after her return from Libya, which “amounts to abuse of power, bad faith and retaliation and warrants an additional award of moral damages which the Tribunal sets in the amount of 60,000 euros.”