Politics & the ICC Lecture Question
To what extent should the ICC Office of the Prosecutor consider or engage in politics to advance international justice?
Comment on the Politics Lecture Question: “To what extent should the ICC Office of the Prosecutor consider or engage in politics to advance international justice?”
As an international body, the goal of the International Criminal Court should be to to remain apolitical - uninvolved in interstate politics. That is, in order to achieve just proceedings in both intent and practice, the ICC must remain unbiased. However, it is true that politics between the UN Security Council may inevitably affect the Court, thus making it the goal of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to make impartial and equitable decision. On the other hand, it also must be acknowledged that the ICC has no independent power to apprehend those for whom it arrest warrants. This accounts for the relative lack of success of the ICC in criminal convictions. Hence, the effectiveness and fate of the ICC rests on a double edge sword on which it must fight to remain relevant without becoming a playing card of any one state while staying uninvolved in politics across borders.
Dr. Richard H. Steinberg
Professor of Law
Comment on the Politics Lecture Question: “To what extent should the ICC Office of the Prosecutor consider or engage in politics to advance international justice?”
As an international body, the goal of the International Criminal Court should be to to remain apolitical - uninvolved in interstate politics. That is, in order to achieve just proceedings in both intent and practice, the ICC must remain unbiased. However, it is true that politics between the UN Security Council may inevitably affect the Court, thus making it the goal of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to make impartial and equitable decision. On the other hand, it also must be acknowledged that the ICC has no independent power to apprehend those for whom it arrest warrants. This accounts for the relative lack of success of the ICC in criminal convictions. Hence, the effectiveness and fate of the ICC rests on a double edge sword on which it must fight to remain relevant without becoming a playing card of any one state while staying uninvolved in politics across borders.