AN EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT IN COMBATING WAR CRIMES

Abstract

It is the desire of every society to live in peace amidst scarce resources. The struggle for resources leads to war where crimes ensue. In order to avoid crimes and criminality at the international level, a uniform legal system is developed. The development of the International Criminal law in recent years is evidence of the overall growth of the International Legal System as an independent super-structure, which culminated in the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Under Customary International Law, the individual States that collectively made up the International Community had exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed within their territories, however, States have started yielding ground to international adjudication in circumstances where their domestic structure are overwhelmed or fall short of internationally accepted standards. Despite this, International Criminal Justice war crimes began immediately after the end of the Second World War when the International Military Tribunal was set up in Nuremberg and Tokyo. Similar tribunals were set up to determine the abuses that occurred during the Yugoslavian Civil War, the Rwandan genocide, and the Sierra Leone Civil War, thus reinforcing calls for the establishment of a permanent international court. The ICC eventually became operational in 2002 and since then it has recorded measurable successes amidst several criticisms. Nonetheless, the Rome Statute which is the principal legislation that confers jurisdiction on the ICC to determine liability of parties in War Crime situations needs to be evaluated to determine how it has fared in enhancing the role of the court in combating war crimes. This research therefore seeks to ascertain how the International Criminal Court has fared under her primary objective of combating War Crimes; evaluate the jurisdiction of the ICC in relation to War Crimes among others.