Victim participation is one of the most innovative aspects introduced in the legal framework of the International Criminal Court (hereinafter – ICC), which has not featured in the practices of other international criminal courts and tribunals. The approach of the ad hoc tribunals to victims was very ‘consumer like’ because victims were solely used as witnesses to testify about the crimes attributed to the accused, but they were not granted broad participatory rights in the proceedings. The drafters of the Rome Statute acknowledged wide-ranging interests of victims who, apart from seeking reparations, have a genuine interest in having their voices heard by expressing their views and opinions throughout legal proceedings, and validating their experiences by being part of the truth seeking process in the court of law.

This commentary scrutinizes a number of early decisions in the Lubanga case that have firmly established practices in dealing with victims and were largely followed by other chambers. Although the jurisprudence has received a mixed bag of reviews in professional and academic circles, it is important to highlight the contribution of the judges to the interpretation of the victim participation framework that can be fine-tuned in forthcoming proceedings before the Court.