October, 2002

The New Criminal System: From Ad Hoc Committees to International Criminal Court

Dr. Ahmed Al-Rashidi

The establishment of the International Criminal Court -ICC- in 1998 is the most significant development, to date, in the international community’s efforts to protect and guarantee the universal enjoyment of basic human rights and liberties. The structure and system establishing the ICC were adopted by an international conference, held in Rome from 14 June to 17 July 1998, under UN supervision, with the participation of delegates from 160 nations, 31 international governmental organisations and 136 non-governmental organisations. It succeeded, to a large extent, in establishing a balance between national interests and sovereignty on the one hand, and the universal enjoyment and protection of human rights on the other.

Although the need for such a mechanism was acknowledged as far back as the end of the First World War, the international community was not at that time prepared to accept the establishment of such a legal system, nor even the principle of conflict resolution through legal settlements. The international community would go only as far as accepting the establishment of ad hoc fact-finding commissions to investigate alleged human rights violations. Most noteworthy among them were: the committee to determine responsibilities and sanctions following the first world war, the UN Committee on War Crimes in Europe in 1943, and in the Far East in 1946. More recently, the UN Security Council passed resolutions No. 780, establishing a committee on war crimes in Yugoslavia in 1992, and No. 935, establishing an expert committee to investigate atrocities in Rwanda. These were followed up by the crucial step of convening special criminal tribunals to review the serious human rights violations in both countries.

In this historical context, the unprecedented nature of the ICC becomes clear, which has made it the focal point of the high hopes of human rights activists and all those concerned with international peace and security through a system of international justice. There are, however, still issues that are open to debate, such as the relationship of the ICC to national courts, the scope and limits of its jurisdiction and the determination of which parties would be allowed to bring cases before it. Moreover, there has not been unanimous support for this new international legal system among all countries, especially powerful ones like the United States. All this, in addition to misgivings on the relationship between the ICC and the UN Security Council, has cast doubts on how effectively this system can impose respect for and protection of human rights and liberties worldwide.