Reparations
“The Court shall establish principles relating to reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation” (Article 75 (1) of the Rome Statute).
Through its reparations programmes, the TFV supports the delivery of reparations awards to victims in cases where a person has been convicted before the Court. The primary source of funding for these awards is the convicted person, through money and property collected via fines and forfeitures and transferred to the TFV by order of the Court; where those resources are insufficient, the TFV may draw on its own voluntary contributions to complement an award. Reparations can be individual or collective and take many forms — including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. They are not limited to individual monetary compensation: awards may also take collective or symbolic forms, serving as measures that help promote reconciliation within divided communities. This breadth allows the Court to identify and award the most appropriate forms of reparation in light of the context of each case and the rights and wishes of victims and their communities.
The Court may also order that an award for reparations against a convicted person be deposited with the TFV where, at the time of the order, it is impossible or impracticable to make individual awards directly to each victim. Such awards are held separately from the TFV's other resources and forwarded to victims as soon as possible. Where the number of victims and the scope, forms and modalities of reparations make a collective award more appropriate, the Court may instead order that the award be made through the TFV.