Is the ICC a toothless tiger without the support of all the world’s major powers?

The US has famously refused to ratify the 1998 Rome Statute that first established the ICC. Other major powers like India, China and Russia are still not party to the Statue, and only one member of the Arab League – Jordan – has ratified the treaty.

The panel acknowledges the challenge their absence poses to the ICC’s legitimacy and efficacy, but agree that, even without universal support, the ICC is still able to be effective in its mission to end impunity.

The Hague Debate
 

Four hundred people gathered at the Peace Palace in The Hague Wednesday night for a debate about the future of International Justice. It was the third in The Hague Debates series, organised by the City of The Hague and Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

The participants were Richard Goldstone, The Hague Peace Philosopher 2009 and former Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court; and Stephen Rapp, Chief Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the topic up for discussion was “The End of Impunity? The future of International Criminal Justice”.

You can watch excerpts from the evening’s discussion below.