Why in news
On July 26, Britain abandoned its intent to challenge the prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant
What is ICC?
Governed by an international treaty called 'The Rome Statute', the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community
Through international criminal justice(ICJ), ICC aims to hold those responsible for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again
India is not a party to Rome Statute along with US and China
ICC’s Jurisdiction
The Rome Statute, grants the ICC jurisdiction over four main crimes:
The crime of Genocide
Crimes against Humanity
War crimes
Crime of Aggression
The Court may exercise jurisdiction in a situation where genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes were committed on or after 1 July 2002
The crimes were committed by a State Party national, or in the territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court;
ICC is not a UN organization but is has a cooperation agreement with the United Nations.
When a situation is not within the Court’s jurisdiction, the United Nations Security Council can refer the situation to the ICC granting it jurisdiction.
This has been done in the situations in Darfur (Sudan) and Libya
Limitations of ICC
ICC does not have its own police force or enforcement body; thus, it relies on cooperation with countries worldwide for support
This State cooperation is problematic for several reasons.
It means that the ICC acts inconsistently in its selection of cases, is prevented from taking on hard cases and loses legitimacy
It also gives the ICC less deterrent value, as potential perpetrators of war crimes know that they can avoid ICC judgment by taking over government and refusing to cooperate
There is insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges
ICC has been accused of being a tool of Western imperialism and biased in favour of powerful countries against weak states
ICC cannot impose a death sentence
The ICC court has no retrospective jurisdiction as it can deal only with crimes committed after 1 July 2002 when the 1998 Rome Statute came into force
ICC has automatic jurisdiction only for crimes committed on the territory of a state which has ratified the treaty; or by a citizen of such a state; or when the United Nations Security Council refers a case to it
Procedural and substantive deficiencies leading to delays and frustration, have questioned the efficacy of the court.
It also faces scarcity of human resources and funds
How is ICC Different from ICJ
Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC is not part of the United Nations system, with the UN-ICC relationship being governed by a separate agreement.
The ICJ (1945, The Hague (Netherlands)), which is among the UN’s 6 principal organs, mainly hears disputes between nations.
The ICC, on the other hand, prosecutes individuals– its authority extending to offences committed in a member state or by a national of such a state.
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