Although Ambassador Scheffer did note that state parties need to regard arrest warrants not as a political option to be debated but rather as an obligation to be fulfilled, the creation of an international police force might threaten not only the political sovereignty and territorial integrity of a state party, but also the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court itself. Because the process of apprehending suspects is largely political, given the existing institutional and political constraints in gaining authority and actual capability to arrest, an international police force would have to be a political actor in order to enforce effectively. Since cooperation between the ICC and such a force would be essential, outsiders might consider the ICC, the court, which has to this point maintained its stance as legally objective, might be seen as a cohorting with a political force and therefore migh exacerbate arguments that the court is illegitamite as an worldwide authority.
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 Ambassador Scheffer did note that state parties need to regard arrest warrants not as a political option to be debated but rather as an obligation to be fulfilled, the creation of an international police force might threaten not only the political sovereignty and territorial integrity of a state party, but also the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court itself. Because the process of apprehending suspects is largely political, given the existing institutional and political constraints in gaining authority and actual capability to arrest, an international police force would have to be a political actor in order to enforce effectively. Since cooperation between the ICC and such a force would be essential, outsiders might consider the ICC, the court, which has to this point maintained its stance as legally objective, might be seen as a cohorting with a political force and therefore migh exacerbate arguments that the court is illegitamite as an worldwide authority.