International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The International Criminal Court was established in July 1, 2002. This was the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force.

Following the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals in 1948, it became apparent to the UN General Assembly that there as a need for permanent international court to deal with atrocities of the kind committed during WWII. At the request of the General Assembly, the International Law Commission drafted two statutes by the early 1950s however both were left aside due to the Cold War. This idea was then revived in 1989; by A.N. R. Robinson, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who proposed the creation of a permanent international court to deal with the illegal drug trade. While this was happening, there were several ad hoc tribunals to try war crimes in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which further cemented the need for a permanent international criminal court. The International Criminal Court can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date. The International Criminal Court is located in The Hague, Netherlands but its proceedings may take place elsewhere. As of now (February 2009), there are 108 members of the court and 50 countries that have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. The court can exercise jurisdiction only in cases where the accused is a national of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or a situation is referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council. The purpose of the International Court of justice is to complement existing national judicial systems; it can only exercise its jurisdiction when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes. From its conception in July 2002, the International Criminal Court has opened four investigations: Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Darfur. The International Criminal Court has issued public arrest warrants for twelve people of whom six remain free, two have died, and four are in custody.

Currently under the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over four groups of crimes which are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Many states would like to ass terrorism and drug trafficking to the list of crimes that the International Criminal Court has jurisdictions over. However this has been a topic of dissention as countries are not able to agree on a definition for terrorism and it was decided not to include drug trafficking as this may overwhelm the International Criminal Court’s limited resources.

As previously stated, there is a need for an International Criminal Court as there are certain national crimes that must be tried on global grounds. In areas mentioned above such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are atrocities being committed and it is absolutely imperative that countries agree to the Rome Statute so that those who are guilty of committing crimes are tried and punished.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice which is known colloquially as the World Court or the ICJ is the primary judicial function of the United Nations. It is headquartered in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. The main functions of the International Court of Justice or World Court are to give advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international organs, agencies, and the United Nations General Assembly, as well as to settle legal disputes submitted to it by member states .The ICJ is not the same as the International Criminal Court which also has “global” jurisdiction. The International Court of Justice was established in 1945 by the United Nations Charter. The World Court was the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice which was the primary judicial body under the League of Nations. The International Court of Justice has a wide range of duties and though they have dealt with few cases in its history, there has been a clear and increased willingness to use the court since the 1980s especially among developing nations. According to the UN Charter, the Security Council has the authority to enforce World Court rulings provided it is agreed upon by all permanent members of the council.

The International Court of Justice is comprised of fifteen judges that are elected to nine year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. The General Assembly and Security Council have a list of people nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration when choosing new judges. Judges serve nine year terms and may be re-elected for up to two further terms. Elections occur every three years with one third of the judges retiring. If a judge is to pass away while in office, the precedent is to elect a judge of the same nationality to complete the term. In the World Court, no two judges may be from the same country. In the International Court of Justice is supposed to represent the fain forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world; this means common law, civil law, and socialist law. Since the 1960s, the US, UK, France, & Russia have been four of the five permanent members of the Security Council have has a judge in the World Court. The International Court of Justice also allows ad hoc judges to sit on contentions cases before the court; this system allows any part to a contentious case to nominate a judge of their choice.

As stated in the UN Charter, all 192 member states are automatically parties to the World Court’s statute. Non UN members may also become parties to the International Court of Justice statute. The issue of jurisdiction is always being debated, but currently the World Court is considered in two types of cases: advisory opinions and contentious issues. In contentious cases, where adversarial proceedings seek to settle a dispute the International Court of Justice produces a binding ruling between states that agree to submit to the ruling of the World Court. Only member sates may be parties in contentious cases, therefore individuals, corporations, parts of a federal state, NGOs, UN organs, and self determination groups are excluded from direct participation in cases. The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice is only open to specified UN bodies and agencies; on receiving a request, the World Court decides which states and organizations might provide useful information and gives them an opportunity to present written or oral statements. Advisory opinions were intended as a means by which UN agencies could seek the International Court of Justice’s help in deciding complex legal issues that might fall under their respective mandates.

Despite criticisms that it may receive, the International Court of Justice is an international body that is quite necessary as there are certain issues that must be decided on this sort of platform.