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International Criminal Court (ICC): Structure and Function
International Criminal Court (ICC)
- It is the first international permanent courtto investigate and prosecute individuals accused of serious international crimes.
- ICC’s founding treaty, called the Rome Statute (adopted in 1998 entered into force in 2002), grants the ICC jurisdiction over 4 main crimes
- Membership: 124 countries are States Parties to Rome Statute of ICC.
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- India, Israel, the US, Russia and Chinaare not parties to the Rome Statute.
- Palestine became the 123rdmember (2015) and Malaysia became 124th State party (2019).
- Assembly of States Parties, with 1 representative from each party,is the Court''s management oversight and legislative.
- Official languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
- Enforcement: ICC’s decisions are binding.
- However, it does not have its own police forceand relies on State cooperation, which is essential to the arrest and surrender of suspects.
- Additional Components
- Trust Fund for Victims (2004): Provides assistance, support, and reparations to victims.
- Detention Centre: Holds detainees in safe, secure, and humane custody.
- Complementarity Principle:The ICC complements national criminal systems and prosecutes only when states are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.
Jurisdiction of ICC under the Rome Statute
- In case of Genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes (committed on or after 1 July 2002) which are-
- Committed by a State Party national, or in territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.
- Referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under chapter VII of the UN Charter.
- In case of Crimes of aggression:
- Crimes referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the UN Security Council, irrespective of whether it involves States Parties or non-States Parties.
- Prosecutor may also initiate an investigation on own initiativeor upon request from a State Party.
- No jurisdiction with respect to any person under age of 18.
Limitations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Criminal Justice
- Lack of Enforcement Mechanism as it relies on cooperation with countries for arrests, transfers, asset freezes, and sentence enforcement.
- Further,Non-States Parties (such as Israel) have no obligation to cooperate with the Court on its requests for arrest and surrender.
- Some major countries are not parties to the ICC.
- Many State Parties are reluctant to cooperate with the Court’s requestsfor arrest and surrender.
- So far, the ICC has issued 46 arrest warrants, with only 21 of them having been detainedwith the help of its member states.
- Insufficient Checks and Balances due to lack of effective oversight on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges.
- Lack of Retrospective Jurisdiction asICC can only address crimes committed after 1st July 2002, when the Rome Statute came into force.
- Scarcity of human resources and funds, impacting its efficacy.
- Allegations of Bias with ICC beingcriticized as a tool of Western imperialism and biased against weak states, especially Africa.
Why did India not join the Rome Statute?· Subordination of the ICC to the UN Security Council, may potentially lead to political interference. · UN Security Council''s power to bind non-States Parties to the ICC, violates principles of sovereignty. · Wide competence and powers of the ICC prosecutor on a proprio motu basis (without a referral from the Security Council or a state party) could be misused for political purposes. · Exclusion of nuclear weapons and terrorism from ICC jurisdiction whose use would constitute a war crime. · As per Article 16 of Rome statute, no investigation may be commenced after the Security Council has requested ICC to that effect. |
For effective functioning of ICC all States Parties should put in place effective national frameworks to cooperate fully with the ICC. There should be Concrete arrest strategies required to arrest the suspects. Also, ICC member states should focus on electing highly qualified judges with knowledge and experience in criminal law and procedure.
POSTED ON 08-06-2024 BY ADMIN
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