Victims have taken an increasingly prominent place in our contemporary system of international criminal law. There are several references to their role and their interests within the Rome Statute, including the right of victims to intervene in proceedings, the establishment of a Victims and Witnesses Unit within the Registry, and the recognition of the entitlement of victims to reparations. The preamble to the Statute acknowledges that ‘during this century millions of children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity’. In addition, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence express the following ‘General principle’: ‘A Chamber in making any direction or order, and other organs of the Court in performing their functions under the Statute or the Rules, shall take into account the needs of all victims and witnesses in accordance with Article 68, in particular children, elderly persons, persons with disabilities and victims of sexual or gender violence.’

If this seems self-evident to some, it is worth reflecting upon the varied and often quite insignificant roles given to victims in national systems of criminal justice. Some approaches, notably the ‘civil law’ or continental type systems, enable victims to participate directly in proceedings, and subsequently authorise them to use issues adjudicated during the criminal trial so as to resolve matters that are fundamentally private in nature. To many French lawyers and legal academics, criminal or penal law falls within the rubric of droit privé, an assessment that common lawyers find utterly puzzling.