The International Criminal Court, which was founded thanks to the ratification of the Rome Statute by several states, handles and tries crimes that occur worldwide and that affect the global population. This court takes care of the worlds worst possible crimes and cases. These include crimes against humanity (murder), genocides, war crimes, torture, enslavement and etc. The International Criminal Court has four main objectives:
- To ensure that the biggest criminals get held accountable of their actions and get the proper punishment for it, if found guilty.
- To serve as a court of last resort that can investigate, prosecute and punish criminals that have committed horrendous crimes.
- Assist a state in the investigation and prosecution of criminals so theses states could be the first to investigate and prosecute (help it's members).
- To discourage people from committing criminal actions by instilling doubt or fear in order to promote peace and security.
How does the ICC achieve its objectives?:
The International Criminal Court achieves its objectives mostly through negotiations, with the states that have signed the Rome Statute (the members), as well as NG0's and Regional Bodies. The states who signed the Rome Statute agreed to cooperate with the ICC. To keep the peace, the ICC also helps other states with the procedure and investigations of certain big trials if a country would like to keep a trial in its country. Everything is based on cooperation and negotiations between states. Nothing legitimately says that a state must legally comply to what the ICC wished but, since they signed the Rome Statue, it would look very bad for a state not to pay attention to what the ICC recommends or wishes. If they signed the Rome Statute it means that the country acknowledges the courts power, jurisdiction, and etc. A perfect example would be the negotiations between the Congolese government and the ICC in regards of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. The ICC arrested and convicted this war criminal, accused of enlisting children to fight in wars, with the help of the Congolese government (March 17th, 2006). The ICC also negotiated for Dyilo's surrender to the ICC in 2006. The Congolese government complied. This is an example of how they achieve their goals (negotiations and cooperation). It isn't always this easy because it isn't easy for an exterior power to have much authority over the interior affairs of a state especially if the criminal caused controversy in the country.
*It also achieves its objectives through search warrants, arrest warrants, persecutions and etc.
Example of ICC achieving its objectives:
A perfect example of the ICC achieving its objectives would be the case of Germain Katanga. This criminal, born on April 28th 1978 in Mambassa and national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was an alleged commander of the "Force de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI)". This man was accused of one count of crime against humanity (murder) and four counts of war crimes (murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging). He committed these crimes on February 24th, 2003 when attacking the village of Bogoro in the Republic of Congo. The ICC issued a warrant for arrest in 2007 and he got transferred to the detention center in The Hague on October 17th, 2007. This shows the cooperation between nations and the ICC because the country Katanga was found in surrendered him to the ICC (cooperation). The trial itself started on November 24th, 2009 and finished on May 23rd, 2014, when they told him his sentence, after being found guilty on March 7th, 2014. Katanga got sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment. The ICC just prosecuted and removed a major criminal from society and in doing so also promoted peace and most probably discourage other criminals from committing these actions. These are some of the major objectives of the ICC and they achieved them in this case.
A perfect example of the ICC achieving its objectives would be the case of Germain Katanga. This criminal, born on April 28th 1978 in Mambassa and national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was an alleged commander of the "Force de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI)". This man was accused of one count of crime against humanity (murder) and four counts of war crimes (murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging). He committed these crimes on February 24th, 2003 when attacking the village of Bogoro in the Republic of Congo. The ICC issued a warrant for arrest in 2007 and he got transferred to the detention center in The Hague on October 17th, 2007. This shows the cooperation between nations and the ICC because the country Katanga was found in surrendered him to the ICC (cooperation). The trial itself started on November 24th, 2009 and finished on May 23rd, 2014, when they told him his sentence, after being found guilty on March 7th, 2014. Katanga got sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment. The ICC just prosecuted and removed a major criminal from society and in doing so also promoted peace and most probably discourage other criminals from committing these actions. These are some of the major objectives of the ICC and they achieved them in this case.