Reports
Role and Legal Standards of NGO Evidence at the International Criminal Court
- Asia Team
- 20 May 2026
- International Criminal Court, NGO Evidence, Rome Statute
This report examines the role of non-governmental organisations in documenting and submitting evidence to the International Criminal Court. NGOs frequently operate as early fact-finders in conflict and post-conflict environments, collecting testimonies, documents, digital material, and contextual information that may otherwise be lost or unavailable to formal investigative authorities.
The report analyses the legal framework governing NGO submissions under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, including the “reasonable basis to proceed” threshold, jurisdictional requirements, admissibility, relevance, reliability, credibility, and probative value. It also considers how NGO documentation has contributed to ICC proceedings involving the Rohingya population in Bangladesh and Myanmar and the Philippines’ “War on Drugs.”
The report further addresses challenges involving verification, impartiality, evidence-collection methods, chain of custody, witness protection, digital evidence, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias. It concludes with recommendations for clearer communication with the Court, victim-centred documentation, stronger confidentiality safeguards, objective fact-finding, and improved evidence-handling practices.
The report analyses the legal framework governing NGO submissions under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, including the “reasonable basis to proceed” threshold, jurisdictional requirements, admissibility, relevance, reliability, credibility, and probative value. It also considers how NGO documentation has contributed to ICC proceedings involving the Rohingya population in Bangladesh and Myanmar and the Philippines’ “War on Drugs.”
The report further addresses challenges involving verification, impartiality, evidence-collection methods, chain of custody, witness protection, digital evidence, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias. It concludes with recommendations for clearer communication with the Court, victim-centred documentation, stronger confidentiality safeguards, objective fact-finding, and improved evidence-handling practices.
✨ AI summary
This report analyses the legal and evidentiary standards governing information submitted by NGOs to the International Criminal Court. Under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, NGOs may provide information to the Office of the Prosecutor, but they cannot directly refer cases or independently trigger the Court’s jurisdiction. Their submissions must satisfy requirements relating to jurisdiction, relevance, reliability, credibility, admissibility, and probative value. Through case studies concerning Bangladesh and Myanmar and the Philippines, the report demonstrates how NGO reports, victim testimonies, and contextual documentation can support preliminary examinations and help establish patterns of alleged crimes, particularly when states are unwilling to cooperate. It also identifies major limitations, including bias, inadequate verification, broken chains of custody, witness fatigue, insufficient protection resources, digital manipulation, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias. The report recommends that NGOs align submissions with ICC standards, preserve evidence securely, separate advocacy from fact-finding, protect witnesses, maintain confidentiality, and use a victim-centred approach.
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