Today, 7 April 2025, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court delivered its judgment rejecting Dominic Ongwen’s appeal and confirming the Trial Chamber’s decision on reparations.
Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, presiding in this appeal, read a summary of the judgment in an open court session.
Ongwen and some of the legal representatives of the Victims were authorised to attend the hearing remotely.
The Appeals Chamber considered the grounds of appeal raised by the Defence.
Among other findings, the Appeals Chamber concluded that Trial Chamber’s decision not to reveal the victims’ names to the defence was justified due to security concerns and did not unduly affect the defence right to conduct a meaningful review of the victims’ dossiers.
The Appeals Chamber also found that there was no error in rejecting the defence’s argument regarding the allegedly overlapping claims of victims before Ugandan tribunals as well as before the ICC.
The Appeals Chamber noted that the compensation discussed before national tribunals was different from the reparations awarded by the court.
It concluded that the defence has failed to explain how the Acholi traditional mechanisms should be incorporated into the reparation system under the court’s legal texts and how such incorporation would affect the scope of Ongwen’s liability for reparations.
The Appeals Chamber rejected as well several arguments on appeal noting that they were already rejected in the procedure of appeal against the decisions on Ongwen’s guilt and sentence.
The Appeals Chamber deciding on this appeal was composed of Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, Presiding Judge, Judge Tomoko Akane, Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze and Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin.
