What Is The Guilty To Justice: Can The ICC Be Self-Enforcing?

According to the Rome statute the treaty which the ICC is built upon the court has the ability to prosecute any individual or group who is responsible for any acts of genocide, when a state is having issues with process themselves. Therefore the ICC can be crucial to potentially help prevent acts of genocide by deterring the individual’s responsible using methods such as prosecution and arrest warrants. Due to the severity of crimes in our society the ICC is necessary to help ensure that all those responsible for the atrocities that have taken place are held responsible and thoroughly charged to the extent of the law for international crimes. According to the article titled “Bringing the Guilty to Justice: Can the ICC be Self-Enforcing?” it …show more content…
Within the ICC an appeal is not only granted when a person is guilty but also through an acquittal. Allowing the prosecutor another opportunity to submit more evidence that would change the final decision of the judges. The ICC through its process of a fair trial guarantees the presumption of innocence, the right of the accused to introduce evidence, to confront witnesses, to present evidence, to be tried in public, to have counsel of choice, and to be informed of the nature of the charges. According to the article titled an introduction to the International Criminal Court “The International Criminal Court is concerned with trying and punishing individuals, not States. ‘Crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced” (Schabas,William, 2004). In a common law setting judges decide to begin the trial as a blank slate, preventing any previous knowledge of the facts from influencing their judgement. ICC is more focused on punishing the worst offenders, individuals who committed the most horrible atrocities and took on the