International Criminal Court defiant of state critics

International Criminal Court Judge Tomoko Akane on Monday said that difficulties are only strengthening the court’s resolve. The court will never give up in the face of coercive measures, outrage, threats, or sabotage, he said. His remarks to the court’s governing body, the Assembly of States Parties, came as the court is under scrutiny for issuing arrest warrants for leaders in non-member countries. Recently, it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defense minister.

Who has opposed the court? The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a Nov. 27 statement that it planned to appeal the charges against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. It demanded a delay in implementing the warrants. The charges are baseless, and the court is biased and lacks authority, the prime minister’s office said. Netanyahu met with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. in Jerusalem earlier in the day, according to the statement.

Graham on Nov. 21 urged members of Congress and other U.S. officials to act forcefully against the court. Both the United States and Israel have robust legal systems and the international court has no jurisdiction over them, Graham argued.

Russia has acted against the court for quite some time after it issued a warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s arrest in March 2023. Late last year, Russia’s Interior Ministry added then-President of the International Criminal Court Piotr Hofmanski to its list of wanted persons, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. Months earlier, Russian authorities began investigating several other officials with the court, including Judge Akane, TASS added.

What is the International Criminal Court? The Rome Statute of 1998 established the court. The statute gave the court authority to investigate four kinds of crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and instances of state-on-state aggression, according to its website. Where it deems appropriate, the court brings charges against individuals it believes are responsible for those offenses.

The court does not have a police force and thus relies on the cooperation of countries across the globe in enforcing its decisions and executing its arrest warrants. The court is not an organ of the United Nations but does have cooperation agreements with the organization. The United Nations Security Council can refer situations that do not fall under the court’s four areas of jurisdiction to the court for investigation.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jill Nelson and Mary Reichard’s discussion on The World and Everything in It podcast about the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Putin, and how it largely went ignored.