A recent decision by the International Criminal Court’s Appeals Chamber in the Gbagbo and Blé Goudé case raised the possibility of a shift away from the long-standing practice of only holding trial in the presence of the accused. The final paragraphs of the 28 May 2020 decision asserts that any future trial proceedings in the Gbagbo et al. case could be held in the absence of the defendants should Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé be released from custody and then later fail to appear for trial. This article examines the Appeals Chamber’s decision in light of the Court’s Statute, existing jurisprudence at the icc and within the larger context of international criminal law. It concludes that the Appeals Chamber’s decision fails to properly understand the right to be present at trial as it exists in the Rome Statute nor does it comply with any identified general principle of law.

国际刑事法院上诉分庭最近对巴博和布莱德·古德一案作出的决定，提出了改变这一长期惯例的可能性，即仅在被告在场的情况下进行审判。2020年5月28日的决定的最后段落断言，Gbagbo等人的任何未来审判程序。如果将巴博先生和布莱·古德先生从拘留所中释放出来，然后再不出庭进行审判，则可以在被告缺席的情况下进行本案。本文根据法院规约，国际刑事法院现有的判例，研究了上诉分庭的裁决并在国际刑法的更大范围内。结论是，上诉分庭的决定没有适当地理解《罗马规约》中存在的出庭审判权，也不符合任何已确定的一般法律原则。