I would like to second the previous commenter regarding the establishment of a new police force, which in my view would be exceedingly difficult from a political and diplomatic point of view. Given that three of the five UNSC permanent members are not party to the Rome Statute, why would these same members permit the establishment of a police force which, to have any bite, would need to be allowed to enter countries without their permission in order to arrest suspects (think: Omar al-Bashir). Besides sealed warrants, could the ICC partner with Interpol or other agencies to assist in the arrest of suspects? These transnational crime-fighting networks already have much of the established protocol, expertise and man-power to play a role. Further efforts should be made to freeze financial assets of the indicted as well as dynamic ways to enforce travel bans.
More efforts should be made to receive legal commitments from all member states that they will arrest suspects on their behalf - this would require a serious public relations campaign to improve the image of the ICC among African states, some of whom view this mechanism as a neo-imperialist one. Unfortunately, given the current state of the international justice system and a lack of consensus regarding issues of justice vs. sovereignty, this will continue to be an issue that curtails the work of the ICC for years to come.
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?”
I would like to second the previous commenter regarding the establishment of a new police force, which in my view would be exceedingly difficult from a political and diplomatic point of view. Given that three of the five UNSC permanent members are not party to the Rome Statute, why would these same members permit the establishment of a police force which, to have any bite, would need to be allowed to enter countries without their permission in order to arrest suspects (think: Omar al-Bashir). Besides sealed warrants, could the ICC partner with Interpol or other agencies to assist in the arrest of suspects? These transnational crime-fighting networks already have much of the established protocol, expertise and man-power to play a role. Further efforts should be made to freeze financial assets of the indicted as well as dynamic ways to enforce travel bans.
More efforts should be made to receive legal commitments from all member states that they will arrest suspects on their behalf - this would require a serious public relations campaign to improve the image of the ICC among African states, some of whom view this mechanism as a neo-imperialist one. Unfortunately, given the current state of the international justice system and a lack of consensus regarding issues of justice vs. sovereignty, this will continue to be an issue that curtails the work of the ICC for years to come.