International Criminal Justice: Progress, Difficulties And Future

Where there is law, it might have an organized system of sanctions to punish its violation. For long time, the national courts retained the primacy of repressive action because of the lack of international institutions to deal with though many conventions and treaties have been elaborated. The aim of this study is to examine the evolution of the international criminal justice through it different stages. The whole paper is divided in three parts of two chapters each.The first part analyzes the progress of the international criminal justice. Notwithstanding the difficulties through which the international criminal system has passed, the creation of international criminal tribunals constitutes the most important prominence in the history of the international criminal justice. For the fist time an head of state in function has been arrested and tried. The prosecution of Slobodan Milosevic and other officers is most important event of this last decade. And for the first time again, rape and sexual violence have been recognized as war crime. Furthermore, the conclusion and adoption of the Statute of ICC in Rome in July 1998 represented a turning point in the enforcement of legal norms regulating armed conflicts. Unlike the ICTY and ICTR, the ICC is a permanent court with universal jurisdiction. Based upon the principle of complementarity with national courts, the Rome Statute of ICC contains revolutionary conditions so far as victims are concerned: victims can participate in a procedure and claim compensation; moreover a Trust fund in favor of victims has been created. Equally important, at the ICC, is the function related to the protection of victims and witnesses appearing before the court.The second part examines the obstacles and difficulties of the international criminal justice. Financial pressures and political influences are the obstacles to achieve fair trials. Contributor states use their monetary leverage to influence the ICTY and ICTR work. And being the United Nations jurisdictions, it is difficult for them to ignore the political priorities of the world community. To these, must be added the non-cooperation of state. The opposition of great states to the ICC will prevent this court of trying many criminals and, by the way, weaken the court. Most importantly is the principle of complementarity. Giving to national courts the primacy of trial will certainly lead to show trial and the practice of amnesties, pardons and the conduct of truth commission will constitute great impediments to the work of the ICC.The third part focuses on the future of the international criminal justice. A focus is specially made on the relationship between the ICC and the United Nations. This relationship is complex. In one hand, the Security Council will be helpful to ICC in enforcing its decisions. In the other hand, the issue of defining the crime of aggression, the funding of the court by the General Assembly will raise difficulties. Finally, this part analyzes the perspectives of the international criminal justice through the emergence of new mechanism, the hybrid national/international courts, the necessity to address impunity in other post conflict situations and the efforts that have to be done in order to enhance and promote international criminal justice.