Art. 15. Prosecutor

The ability of the Prosecutor to trigger the jurisdiction of the Court on its own initiative (proprio motu) is one of the most delicate provisions of the Statute and an expression of prosecutorial independence. Some states critical of the court, such as the United States, China and Russia and also his/her proponents of the Court feared and still fear that the Prosecutor would abuse his proprio motu powers by initiating politically moti- vated or frivolous investigations (R. KOLB, Droit international pénal, Basel-Bruxelles, Helbing Lichtenhahn-Bru- ylant, 2008, p. 252). The Prosecutor's right to initiate is unconditional and discretionary but balanced by the need for authorization by the Pre-Trial Chamber. When initiating an investigation the Prosecutor may take steps as outlined in Article 15(2), but he may not conduct an actual investigation.