Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org
New CF&P Paper Finds International Criminal Court to Be Fatally Flawed
(Washington, D.C., Wednesday, March 25, 2015) The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation released today a new paper on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Authored by Brian Garst, CF&P Director of Policy and Communications, the white paper finds the ICC’s record in its first dozen plus years to be dismal.
In the paper, entitled “The International Criminal Court: A Case of Politics Over Substance,” the ICC is shown to be fatally flawed in both theory and execution. The organization tasked with jurisdiction over a list of vague crimes is plagued by multiple sources of vulnerability to political influence, a mission often at odds with itself and other international ambitions, lack of independent enforcement powers, and inadequate fact-finding capabilities.
The ICC’s significant flaws explain why it has focused inordinately on a single region – Africa – at the expense of other problem areas, and why it has secured just two convictions in over a dozen years.
“In its failures, the International Criminal Court provides a classic example of what happens when global bureaucrats far removed from the electoral process are given free rein over large sums of taxpayer dollars,” said CF&P President Andrew Quinlan. “Like the OECD,” he added, “it continues to survive only because it operates largely in the shadows.”
The paper’s author, Brian Garst, remarked, “ICC boosters will no doubt suggest that with extra effort, in the form of ever more money from global taxpayers, they can correct the Court’s many egregious shortcomings.” He concluded, “That’s not likely to happen. Its problems are systemic, right down to the errant belief that justice can even be agreeably defined in a global sense, much less enforced with fairness and impartiality.”
Link to the paper: http://freedomandprosperity.org/2015/publications/international-criminal-court-politics-over-substance/
Executive Summary:
Prior to its creation the idea for an International Criminal Court (ICC) was portrayed by separate quarters as either a bold step forward for justice or as a new international boogeyman that would follow a long line of international organizations plagued by ineffectiveness and corruption. After twelve years, the ICC has failed to establish legitimacy in the eyes of many. It has prosecuted just 22 cases across 9 situations and secured only 2 convictions. This paper will examine the rationale for the ICC and gauge its effectiveness through both theoretical and observational critiques, including answering whether the Court is beholden to political pressures, while seeking explanation for its apparent fixation on Africa as atrocities in other parts of the world go largely ignored. In addition, consideration will be given to a growing body of academic research pointing to shortcomings at the ICC. All together, these issues suggest that the ICC’s flaws may be insurmountable, and a better approach is needed for dealing with global atrocities.
For additional comments:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, andy@freedomandprosperity.org
Brian Garst can be reached at bgarst@freedomandprosperity.org
###
