Proprio Motu Investigation: International Criminal Court (ICC)

As established by Article 13 (c) Rome Statute (hereinafter 'the Statute'), one of the three trigger mechanisms of the Court’s jurisdiction is the Prosecutor’s initiation of an investigation ‘proprio motu’. More precisely, Article 15 (1) of the Statute provides that ‘the Prosecutor may initiate investigations proprio motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court’. Investing the Prosecutor with such power was one of the most controversial and debated issues during the drafting phase of the ICC Statute (→ International Criminal Court (ICC)) and at the Rome Conference.