Liability for Offences against the Administration of Justice Involving Abuse of Authority by Public Officials in International Criminal Law

The article explores criminal liability for offences against the administration of justice committed through the abuse of powers by officials of international criminal courts, with particular emphasis on the offence of knowingly instituting criminal proceedings against an innocent person. It contrasts the relatively well-established catalogue of “classic” offences against the administration of justice – such as perjury, fabrication of evidence and interference with witnesses – with the conspicuous regulatory lacuna surrounding unlawful conduct by judges, prosecutors and registry staff themselves. The study examines the multi-layered object of the offence, as well as its objective and subjective elements, in light of the two stage procedure for bringing individuals before international criminal courts. Special attention is devoted to the Russian practice of applying Article 299 of the Criminal Code to officials of the International Criminal Court. Methodologically, the article combines formal legal, comparative, systemic and case-based approaches to juxtapose international and domestic regimes governing liability for the wrongful prosecution of an obviously innocent person. The empirical foundation of the analysis is drawn from the case law of international criminal jurisdictions and contemporary Russian investigative and judicial practice. Building on this material, the article advances, for the first time in the literature, a detailed construction of the offense of knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal liability, adapted to the institutional and procedural specificities of international criminal justice. It argues for the extension of Article 299 of the Russian Criminal Code to foreign officials of international organizations that do not form part of the Russian judicial system, and proposes the inclusion of a functionally analogous offense in future codifications of crimes against international justice. The article concludes that, notwithstanding the comparatively sophisticated framework protecting international criminal proceedings from external interference, the absence of specific offenses targeting abuses of office by international judicial actors poses a serious threat to fairness, equality of arms and the right to defense. Knowingly prosecuting an innocent person is presented as the paradigmatic manifestation of such abuse, a multi object offence capable of undermining confidence in international adjudication and destabilising the political order of states. The Russian model of criminalization – corroborated by the initiation of criminal proceedings and the issuance of a judgement in respect of International Criminal Court personnel – demonstrates, the author contends, the legal feasibility of holding international court officials personally accountable on the basis of the passive personality principle.