From ad hoc tribunals to the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The point of departure for establishing the International Criminal Court was not a weakened judicial body which simply needed to be restructured but it was a non existent Court which faced strong opposition. Nevertheless, it has now reached a stage which even its keenest supporters did not dare to hope for. The next step is for the International Criminal Court to be put into practice. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the extent to which the International Criminal Court will be able to provide an effective criminal law enforcement mechanism within the international legal order by examining: 1. the legitimacy of the Court within the legal order in which it operates; 2. whether it will be independent of political considerations; 3. the manner in which it will be able to assume jurisdiction and how this jurisdiction will be shared with national courts; 4. whether it will apply the law with a fair amount of consistency and predictability and 5. how it will guarantee the minimum rights of the accused necessary for a fair adjudication. The effectiveness of the Court cannot be determined in a vacuum but it is ascertained in relation to the ad hoe tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Notwithstanding certain weaknesses of the International Criminal Court, it is its permanence that will ensure the emergence of a new international legal order based on the rule of law.