Although I believe more should be done to round up indictees of the ICC, I would be opposed to an international police force. Call it what you will-paranoia, frugality, or whatever, but police should be left up to the state. Where will the funding for an extensive (and it will need to be extensive) police force come from? Who will pay? If you were to be funded by all member states, how would we know all states were contributing their share? And if the police force is say, heavily European, might that create a lot of discontent? Any imbalance could foreseeably cause discontent within the states involved. Also, and international police force would be hard to keep in check. A corrupt leader and a lot of things can go wrong. I think it is naive to think we have moved past the point in history where people are evil and there is no route for those evil people left to commit crimes. An international police force has no one to keep them in check, so why risk it? Why does the ICC not personally send delegations task forces to oversee the arrest of their indictees? I think with a physical presence, leaders will be much more inclined to respond.
David Scheffer
Professor of Law
Comment on the Arrest Lecture Question: “What steps can and should the ICC take to secure the arrest and surrender of indictees?”
Although I believe more should be done to round up indictees of the ICC, I would be opposed to an international police force. Call it what you will-paranoia, frugality, or whatever, but police should be left up to the state. Where will the funding for an extensive (and it will need to be extensive) police force come from? Who will pay? If you were to be funded by all member states, how would we know all states were contributing their share? And if the police force is say, heavily European, might that create a lot of discontent? Any imbalance could foreseeably cause discontent within the states involved. Also, and international police force would be hard to keep in check. A corrupt leader and a lot of things can go wrong. I think it is naive to think we have moved past the point in history where people are evil and there is no route for those evil people left to commit crimes. An international police force has no one to keep them in check, so why risk it? Why does the ICC not personally send delegations task forces to oversee the arrest of their indictees? I think with a physical presence, leaders will be much more inclined to respond.