Current, Former Heads of ICC’s Governing Body Say Isolation Efforts Aim to Erode Global Legal Order
The authors said sanctions and pressure on countries to quit the Rome Statute are meant to weaken confidence in international law, not just the court.
- On Thursday, current and former presidents of the International Criminal Court's Assembly of States Parties warned in a joint op-ed that U.S. efforts to diplomatically isolate the institution threaten the global legal order.
- The Trump administration recently sanctioned ICC President Tomoko Akane and other officials while pressuring nations to distance themselves from the court, citing opposition to cases involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. personnel.
- Authors of the op-ed, including Assembly President Paivi Kaukoranta, argue the court acts as a last resort rather than a replacement for national systems, asserting that treaty participation is an exercise of sovereign state power.
- Leaders called on the ICC's 125 member states and international organizations to provide the court with political and legal backing, urging governments to resist external pressure intended to weaken the institution.
- This campaign aligns with the administration's broader retreat from multilateralism, which includes previous withdrawals from UN bodies and the World Health Organization, framing the shift as a move toward a "might makes right" world.
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Eight Presidents of the International Criminal Court stressed that attempts to urge States to withdraw from the Court or weaken it put the world in a choice between a world based on the rule of law and the logic of force.
The current President and former Presidents of the Administrative Body of the International Criminal Court warned that attempts to isolate the Court diplomatically were aimed at undermining confidence in the international legal system, at a time when the administration of United States President Donald Trump was exerting pressure on States to impose isolation on the Court.
ICC leaders say US pressure campaign threatens global rule of law
The ICC’s current and former leaders warn that attempts to isolate the court are aimed at eroding the international legal order, defending the ICC as a last-resort arbiter for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes while respecting state sovereignty. They note that the Trump administration’s sanctions and pressure on countries to quit the ICC have intensified concerns about lawlessness and the sustainability of multilateral justice. ·…
Current, former heads of ICC's governing body say isolation efforts aim to erode global legal order
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 - The current and former presidents of the International Criminal Court's governing body said efforts to isolate the institution diplomatically are aimed at eroding confidence in the international legal order as President Donald Trump's administration has pressured countries to isolate the ICC. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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