What are the ICC Legal Tools?
The Legal Tools have been developed as part of the ICC Legal Tools Project of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. They equip users with legal information, digests and an application to work more effectively with core international crimes cases (involving war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide). The Tools serve as an electronic library on international criminal law and justice. They comprise at present over 44,000 documents in several databases (the "Legal Tools Database"), together with four legal research and reference tools developed by lawyers with expertise in international criminal law and justice: the Case Matrix, the Elements Digest, the Proceedings Digest and the Means of Proof Digest. Text in these tools or in the Legal Tools Database does not necessarily represent views of the ICC, any of its Organs or any participant in proceedings before the ICC or any of the ICC States Parties.
The Legal Tools Project provides the general public with free access to the Legal Tools Database of basic legal information in international criminal law through this website (the "Legal Tools Website"). In so doing, the Project represents a significant effort to disseminate legal information in the Court's area of work. Additionally, criminal jurisdictions, counsel and NGOs that work on core international crimes cases may seek to have access to the Case Matrix - which encompasses the Elements Digest, the Means of Proof Digest and key documents from the Legal Tools Database - by sending an e-mail message with a short statement on the nature of the need to case.matrix@icc-cpi.int. This represents an important knowledge transfer platform for jurisdictions outside the ICC, through which legal information pertaining to core international crimes - much of it generated by international criminal jurisdictions - is made available to those who need it, in a practical and cost-effective manner.
The Legal Tools Project draws on the support of outside partners for the development and maintenance of the Legal Tools. The purpose of this outsourcing is to create a broad, stable and long-term capacity to collect relevant documents, register metadata for each document, and upload the documents onto the Legal Tools Database, with a view to ensuring that the quality of its services will be as high as possible. There is more information about the partners in the sections "Overview of the Tools" and "Work on the Tools". With the assistance of these partners, the Project expects to stimulate further contributions and engage new partners to expand and improve the Legal Tools.
The following brochures on the Legal Tools and the Case Matrix are available for download:
