The International Criminal Court: An incomplete step in building an international criminal justice

Abstract

Since the announcement by one of the founders of the Swiss International Committee of the Red Cross, Gustave Meunier, of his plan to create an International Criminal Court at the end of the 19th century, international efforts have not stopped at official and informal levels to establish an international criminal justice system that would prosecute those accused of international crimes and perform the function of deterrence to prevent the recurrence of tragedies in the future, whether it took place in the era of the League of Nations or in the era of the United Nations. Many efforts have failed due to several factors, some of which are related to the nature of the international community, such as the legal and fundamental heterogeneity and adherence of States to the principle of sovereignty, as well as, in some cases, that is due to the nature of the projects presented. Difficulties that were only really overcome after the development of the international community in the field of human rights, unlike the large number of crimes that occurred in the post-World War II period, given the unprecedented media coverage resulting from technological development and the consequent formation of world public opinion has helped to push for the establishment of international criminal justice, in particular through the role played by NGOs , which emerged clearly in the negotiations in Rome that resulted in the creation of the International Criminal Court as the first permanent and independent judicial body, despite the criticisms leveled at it mainly related to the role entrusted to it and the legal mechanisms available to activate it and perform its functions.