When the United Nations freezes your assets

Impounded private jet of Jean-Pierre Bemba (photo: Bruno Felipe Pires) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations Security Council both have the power to request states to freeze individuals' assets. In his PhD research, UvA jurist Daley Birkett looks at the way in which the two bodies exercise their asset freezing powers, with a particular emphasis on the rights of those individuals on the receiving end of such measures. Birkett will receive his doctorate on Friday, 19 February, from the University of Amsterdam. In pursuing its mandate to end impunity for the world's worst crimes, the ICC is not only empowered to request states to arrest people, but also to identify, trace, freeze and seize their assets. Similarly, the UN Security Council has the power to request states to freeze individuals' assets in furtherance of its responsibility for maintaining or restoring international peace and security. But with assets being frozen for the duration of notoriously lengthy international criminal trials or until international peace and security is restored, the seizures are rarely short in duration. In his research, Birkett examines whether the use of such measures is consistent with the rights of the individuals against whom they are imposed.