Overview of the Effectiveness of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court: Effective?
Falyn A. Hahn
Lynchburg College
International Criminal Court: Effective? As our society becomes more and more globalized, international relations have become a necessity. However, cooperation on an international level, between different cultures and countries, can be difficult. As a result, nowadays we have such organizations as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN), and other that unite many countries by common goals such as preventing conflicts and solving existing disputes. Naturally, to fulfill this task there is a need for regulations and laws on an international level that all states are required to abide by. These regulations serve as a sort of “international playing field” for countries to come together. But unfortunately, where there are laws there are law-breakers. We can find a lot of examples of the criminal world spreading its influence internationally. In order to fight against these criminal influences the international community came to the realization that there must be consequences for these actions, and therefore a court with international authority and power became necessary. This led to the birth of the International Court of Justice, and finally, the International Criminal Court (ICC) (ICC, 2012; Wikipedia, 2012; Bracknell, 2011). This research paper will discuss the accomplishments that it has already achieved, the possible challenges that the ICC faces in the near future, and whether or not it is truly effective. The ICC is a permanent international criminal court founded in 2002 by the Rome Statute to “bring to justice the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind- war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide”, especially when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so (Wikipedia, 2012). As of July 2012, 121 countries have ratified the statute. The Court is located in The Hague, Netherlands (Institute, 2012). Although the ICC was formed with
Falyn A. Hahn
Lynchburg College
International Criminal Court: Effective? As our society becomes more and more globalized, international relations have become a necessity. However, cooperation on an international level, between different cultures and countries, can be difficult. As a result, nowadays we have such organizations as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN), and other that unite many countries by common goals such as preventing conflicts and solving existing disputes. Naturally, to fulfill this task there is a need for regulations and laws on an international level that all states are required to abide by. These regulations serve as a sort of “international playing field” for countries to come together. But unfortunately, where there are laws there are law-breakers. We can find a lot of examples of the criminal world spreading its influence internationally. In order to fight against these criminal influences the international community came to the realization that there must be consequences for these actions, and therefore a court with international authority and power became necessary. This led to the birth of the International Court of Justice, and finally, the International Criminal Court (ICC) (ICC, 2012; Wikipedia, 2012; Bracknell, 2011). This research paper will discuss the accomplishments that it has already achieved, the possible challenges that the ICC faces in the near future, and whether or not it is truly effective. The ICC is a permanent international criminal court founded in 2002 by the Rome Statute to “bring to justice the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind- war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide”, especially when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so (Wikipedia, 2012). As of July 2012, 121 countries have ratified the statute. The Court is located in The Hague, Netherlands (Institute, 2012). Although the ICC was formed with