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What Is the International Criminal Court? The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the international court established for crimes concerned with the international community as a whole. The international court was established to examine, prosecute and try individuals of committing the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC’s concern is to prosecute those who are guilty of committing crimes that have had an effect on mass amounts of people and affect the world internationally. The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, the first treaty passed by the international court was developed in order to punish the most serious crimes that have affected humanity at an international level. The ICC is strictly a self-governing organization, located in the Netherlands with seats at The Hague. The State Parties, which are the 160, states that assisted in establishing the treaty, which are responsible for primarily funding the organization. Some governmental donations contribute to the Court’s expenses, along with personal donation from silent donors.

What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the international court established for crimes concerned with the international community as a whole. The international court was established to examine, prosecute and try individuals of committing the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC’s concern is to prosecute those who are guilty of committing crimes that have had an effect on mass amounts of people and affect the world internationally. The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, the first treaty passed by the international court was developed in order to punish the most serious crimes that have affected humanity at an international level. The ICC is strictly a self-governing organization, located in the Netherlands with seats at The Hague. The State Parties, which are the 160, states that assisted in establishing the treaty, which are responsible for primarily funding the organization. Some governmental donations contribute to the Court’s expenses, along with personal donation from silent donors.

Why was the ICC established?

The twentieth century marked a period of much apprehension and many of the most revolting crimes committed to date. To date, many of the crimes committed during the twentieth century have gone unpunished. The end of the Cold War was the period in which the need for an international criminal justice service worldwide was highly desired. The heinous crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda undoubtedly had the most significant impact on the decision to establish the ICC during the summer of 1998 in Rome: it was known as the Rome Statute.

What is the Rome Statute?

In the summer of 1998, 160 states established the first treaty of the international criminal court. During the conference of 1998 they adopted a treaty that was later known as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. State Parties was the title given to the 160 countries that merged together to put an international system of justice together for the greater good of the people. The State Parties meet roughly once a year to discuss administrative policies, activities and issues relevant to the International Criminal Court.

Crimes within the ICC

Dealing with prosecutions and the most serious of crimes are the ones that the Criminal Court is responsible for. The most serious of crimes, focused significantly by the ICC, are genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Although there are more crimes punishable by the ICC, the ones listed above hold precedence over the world’s most serious crimes. The ICC has complete jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, any act of terror that falls under one of the three crimes, the ICC is able to try and prosecute the terrorist. The International Criminal Court is known as the court of last resort. Meaning that the ICC is not permitted to act on any cases that are already being prosecuted by a national judicial system. The only way in which the ICC is able to intervene is if the proceedings were undertaken solely to shield a person from criminal responsibility. The main focus of the ICC is trying only those accused of the gravest crimes.

Difference between the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the main judicial structure of the United Nations (UN). The Charter of the United Nation’s established the ICJ in the spring of 1945. The court is comprised of 15 judges whom the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council elect. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established in 1946, whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002. The ICJ’s relationship with the U.N., is that it is the official court of the U.N., or commonly referred to as the “World Court.” The ICC is solely independent from the U.N., it can initiate prosecutions without the referral or acknowledgement of the U.N. The focus of the ICJ is sovereignty, boundary disputes, maritime disputes, trade, natural resources, human rights and more. The focus of the ICC is genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other severe crimes that affect the international community as a whole. The Rome Statute deals with all legal authorization for the ICC whereas legal authorization for the ICJ is done through the U.N. States. The authorization is to ratify the U.N. States and the consent that the U.N. Carter becomes parties to the ICJ Statue. Each state must provide consent to any controversial case by agreement, declaration, or treaty clause. The ICJ was established in 1946 as a judicial section of the U.N., where as the ICC was established as an entirely independent international organization that is not governed or have connection to the U.N. Both organizations are located in The Hague, in the Netherlands. Basically the ICC focuses on the two bodies of international law that deal with individuals, human rights and laws towards humanity. Five main situations to date that the ICC has investigated are: Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Darfur and the Republic of Kenya. The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice are two organizations that are completely separate from one another. The ICC focuses on the most severe crimes that require special attention, crimes that affect humanity as a whole. The ICJ has close connections to the U.N. and they work together to better the justice system. Both have different functions, different members and both are essential organizations of the international justice system that were created to help sustain worldwide stability and a chance at peace. Although both the ICC and the ICJ have entirely different focuses, the main goal in common is protecting each and every country for the good of humanity.

Errol P. Mendes: Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court

The quest for peace has never been an easy goal to achieve. Humanity has been seeking world peace for decades and decades. Despite all of the efforts and attempts for the quest for peace, it has never been an easy battle. The long, painful cycle of trying to understand how to attain world peace has been endless. After periods of war or crimes affecting humanity, seeking to explain why the crimes occur and how to recover have always been questions that have been left unanswered. Global leaders and academics have focused their attention on the way in which world peace can be achieved for all of humanity. Errol Mendes (2010) has hoped for sometime that global peace can be attained through justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he believes must act as a global court of last resort. Peace is globally welcomed and wished for by humanity as a whole. The main role of the ICC is to concern itself with the International community as a whole and prosecute and try individuals of committing the most serious of crimes against humanity. The ICC prosecutes those guilty of committing crimes that affect mass amounts of people. Errol P. Mendes focuses his book on the greatest challenges that the International Criminal Court has been facing since its commencement in 1998. Reconciling the demand for justice for the most serious crimes known to humanity with the direction of attaining a sustainable form of peace in the areas where conflict is constant around the world. Errol Mendes, while describing and analyzing the challenge for peace, he demonstrates that the ICC is a product of decades of global efforts to develop peace with justice. Mendes focuses on two of the most important prosecutions, which involve prosecutions of the president of Sudan and a ruthless rebel group of Northern Uganda. Mendes argues that the choice between peace and justice is not the answer. The issues in Sudan and Uganda raises the issues that yield on heightened global significance. The long-standing concern is whether seeking justice for serious international crimes interferes with the prospect for peace. The ICC began in 2003 and the first arrest warrant was for Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir. The idea for peace is fueled by the need for justice. The desire to defer justice in exchange for promises to end the conflict has already arisen with respect to the ICC’s work in Sudan and Uganda. This threat to recur in the years to come as means mediators struggle to negotiate peace deals with both Sudan and Uganda. By making these promises to end the conflict that Sudan and Uganda face; this raises the concern that the way the ICC goes about promoting peace may also destroy the idea of peace.