Editing Universal jurisdiction (section)

==Immunity for state officials==
On 14 February 2002, the International Court of Justice in the [[Case Concerning the Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium)|''ICJ Arrest Warrant Case'']] concluded that state officials may have immunity under international law while serving in office. The court stated that immunity was not granted to state officials for their own benefit, but instead to ensure the effective performance of their functions on behalf of their respective states. The court also stated that when abroad, state officials may enjoy immunity from arrest in another state on criminal charges, including charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity.<ref name=ICJ-PR-020214>{{cite news|url=http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2002/afr379.html|title=ICJ rejects Belgian arrest warrant for foreign ministers of Democratic Republic of Congo|publisher=United Nations Information Service|date=14 September 2002}}</ref> But the ICJ qualified its conclusions, saying that state officers "may be subject to criminal proceedings before certain international criminal courts, where they have jurisdiction. Examples include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda&nbsp;..., and the future [[International Criminal Court]]."<ref name=CRAN-2003-fn6>Cesare P.R. Romano and André Nollkaemper. ''[http://www.asil.org/insights/insigh110.htm#_ednref6 The Arrest Warrant Against The Liberian President, Charles Taylor]'', on the website of the [[American Society of International Law]], June 2003. Cites in footnote 6: Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium), Judgment, Merits, para. 61.</ref>

In 2003, [[Charles G. Taylor|Charles Taylor]], the former president of [[Liberia]], was served with an arrest warrant by the [[Special Court for Sierra Leone]] (SCSL) that was set up under the auspices of a treaty that binds only the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone.<ref name=CRAN-2003>Cesare P.R. Romano and André Nollkaemper. ''[http://www.asil.org/insights/insigh110.htm The Arrest Warrant Against The Liberian President, Charles Taylor]'', on the website of the [[American Society of International Law]], June 2003.</ref> Taylor contested the Special Court's jurisdiction, claiming immunity, but the Special Court for Sierra Leone concluded in 2004 that "the sovereign equality of states does not prevent a head of state from being prosecuted before an international criminal tribunal or court".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sc-sl.org/CASES/ProsecutorvsCharlesTaylor/tabid/107/Default.aspx< |title=Prosecutor v. Charles Ghankay Taylor, Summary of Decision on Immunity From Jurisdiction |author=Appellate Tribunal |date=31 May 2004 |work=Case Number SCSL-2003-01-I |publisher=Special Court of Sierra Leone |access-date=30 May 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Special Court convicted Taylor in 2012 and sentenced him to fifty years' imprisonment, making him the first head of state since the [[Nuremberg trials]] after World War II to be tried and convicted by an international court.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world/africa/charles-taylor-sentenced-to-50-years-for-war-crimes.html|title=Judge Gives Taylor 50 Years for 'Heinous' Crimes in War |author1=Simons, Marlise  |author2=Goodman, J. David |name-list-style=amp |date=31 May 2004 |work=The New York Times|access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> In sum, the question whether a former head of state might have immunity depends on which international court or tribunal endeavors to try him, how the court is constituted, and how it interprets its own mandate.