A landmark trial for international justice

As the first before ICC, the trial of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga was a landmark achievement for the Rome Statute system of international justice, and for the civil society organizations who strived for many years to establish a criminal court that could fight impunity and increase access to justice for victims of grave crimes around the world.

The charges against Lubanga focused on the recruitment and use of child soldiers, a war crime under the ICC Rome Statute. The trial did much to highlight the problem of child soldiers and the need to protect children in conflict. The eventual guilty verdict and sentencing sent out a strong message that perpetrators of such crimes could, and would, be held to account.

The trial was the first test for the ICC’s groundbreaking provisions on the participation and representation of victims in the courtroom, with 129 victims participating in the proceedings. The guilty verdict also triggered the Court’s unprecedented restorative mandate for the first time, with judges ordering the Trust Fund for Victims to explore and implement reparations to Lubanga’s victims.

Challenges and lessons learned

Several serious challenges emerged during the trial. While many of these were understandable for a newly-established court, others may have been avoidable. Civil society is working to ensure that the Court learns and improves from these experiences.

For many years, victims and civil society in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have demanded accountability for immense suffering as a result the world’s deadliest conflicts since World War II.

The prosecution’s use of intermediaries to assist with investigations has also been criticized by both judges and civil society groups. In the Lubanga trial, judges found several testimonies.