International Criminal Court: Effective?
Falyn A. Hahn
Lynchburg College

International Criminal Court: Effective? As our society becomes more and more globalized, international relations have become a necessity. However, cooperation on an international level, between different cultures and countries, can be difficult. As a result, nowadays we have such organizations as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN), and other that unite many countries by common goals such as preventing conflicts and solving existing disputes. Naturally, to fulfill this task there is a need for regulations and laws on an international level that all states are required to abide by. These regulations serve as a sort of “international …show more content…

Tolimir’s status as senior commander the ICC was still able to bring justice upon him. This in itself is a major achievement. The Rome Statute makes clear that official capacity is irrelevant both to criminal responsibility and to mitigation of sentence:
‘This Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Statute, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. … Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person” (ICC, 2012). Besides the actual criminal cases such as the Lubanga and Tolimir case there are three largely neglected achievements of the Court (ICC, 2012). The ICC recently celebrated its tenth anniversary despite heavy criticism of its international role and impact. Just the fact that it exists is a huge achievement and shows the international trend of cracking down on crime. Ten years after it was created, and after much skepticism that the Court could survive the political heat of international relations, it is still around. The ICC managed to withstand