Imunidade de chefes de estado: limitações em casos de crimes internacionais perante o tribunal penal internacional

Abstract

This article investigates the limitations of immunity from jurisdiction of heads of state in cases of international crimes before the International Criminal Court. The main objective is to verify whether immunity from jurisdiction granted to heads of state and government is an impediment to the trial of these authorities before the International Criminal Court. To this end, the hypothetical-deductive method was used as a methodology, examining legal sources and real cases to understand the possible limitations encountered by the International Criminal Court when trying heads of state. The results demonstrated that immunity in itself does not constitute a barrier to trials, but that the lack of cooperation of states with the court is the main limiting criterion for its action when trying heads of state for international crimes. It is concluded that reforms to the Rome Statute are necessary to enable the actual trial of heads of state and overcome the lack of cooperation with the court.