Donald Trump’s decision to impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) could sound the death knell of this important judicial body. The US president condemned the Court’s ‘illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.’ Trump’s response came after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu last November over alleged war crimes in Gaza, as well as a warrant for a Hamas commander.
As a supporter of the ICC, I regret that its credibility has – at a stroke – been grievously diminished by this exercise of prejudice
The ICC, despite its obvious bias in this case, performs a crucial role as the legitimate forum in which genocide and other heinous crimes may be judged and penalised. Established by the Rome Statute in 1998, 125 States have signed up to its jurisdiction.
Its creation reflected the need for a permanent international tribunal to prosecute crimes allegedly committed in the pursuit of war.
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