At 9.30 a.m. on 10 July 2012, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will deliver in open court its decisions pursuant to Articles 75 (reparations to victims) and 76 (sentencing) of the ICC Statute in the case Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. The verdict in this case was rendered on 14 March 2012. Mr Lubanga Dyilo was found guilty of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 and using them to participate in hostilities.
It remains to be seen what reparations the Trial Chamber is going to award to victims and the length of the sentence it will hand down for Lubanga. The length of sentences at the ICC is regulated under Part VII of the ICC Statute, entitled ‘Penalties’. Under Article 77, the Court may impose imprisonment for a specified number of years, which may not exceed a maximum of 30 years; or a term of life imprisonment when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person. In determining the sentence the Court needs to take into account such factors as the gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person.
For more information on the Lubanga case click here.