Also known as: bilateral immunity agreement · bilateral immunity agreements (BIAs) · BIAs · Article 98 agreements
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
International agreements between the United States and foreign states that prevent the surrender of American nationals to the International Criminal Court. These pacts rest on Article 98 of the Rome Statute and commit signatories not to transfer U.S. personnel to the Court.
Benjamin Brooks, a State Department official, faces a criminal investigation. The prosecutor offers statements made during talks over a Bilateral Immunity Agreement to show Brooks attempted to obstruct the probe. The court admits the evidence under the bias exception because the statements reveal motive rather than a mere compromise offer.
Blake Butler appears before Judge Bei Bai in a case involving enforcement of a Bilateral Immunity Agreement. The judge previously participated in drafting the agreement and knows disputed facts about its scope. The judge must disqualify herself because her personal knowledge creates a reasonable question about impartiality.
Benito Benitez testifies against a defendant charged with violating a Bilateral Immunity Agreement. Defense counsel seeks to question Benitez about a prior juvenile adjudication to reveal bias stemming from his own exposure under the agreement. The Confrontation Clause requires the court to allow the inquiry when it is necessary to test credibility.
Byron Bishop sues to enforce a Bilateral Immunity Agreement against a foreign contractor. Evidence that the contractor carried liability insurance is offered not to prove negligence but to show the contractor's ownership and control over assets covered by the agreement. The court admits the evidence for that limited purpose.
Bernard Bass presides over a dispute concerning a Bilateral Immunity Agreement. During the hearing the judge makes remarks suggesting prejudice against one nation's nationals. The judge violates the duty to perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice and must recuse or face discipline.
Bayside Shipping calls a witness who belongs to an organization whose rules encourage members to protect fellow nationals from the ICC. Opposing counsel introduces the membership to show bias in testimony about a Bilateral Immunity Agreement. The evidence is admissible because bias impeachment is always relevant.
The agreements commit signatory states not to surrender U.S. nationals to the ICC. They rely on Article 98 of the Rome Statute to create an international-law obligation that blocks the Court from requesting surrender.
Between 2002 and 2006 the United States concluded such agreements with more than one hundred countries.
The Court views the agreements as affecting only the relations between the two states and not the relationship between an ICC state party and the Court itself.
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