The International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court
The Paradox of its Authority
This chapter examines the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC, like many international institutions, depends on states to help enforce its mandate. Unsurprisingly for an international institution, but troubling for an international court, this has contributed to the perception that it is aligned with the West and that it ates powerful Western states, especially the United States. This built-in major power dependency threatens to undermine ICC’ authority among many of its most steadfast proponents. The ICC’s proximity to state power, and especially to the Security Council, is directly at odds with the principle of impartiality that is central to international justice norms. The challenge of balancing power and independence was especially palpable in the aftermath of NATO’s war in Libya, where the proximity between the Security Council, state interests, and international criminal justice seemed uncomfortably close for many of the ICC’s proponents.
Keywords: International Criminal Court, Western states, state power, Security Council, international criminal justice, NATO, Libya
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