125 Nations Observe July 17 As World Day for International Justice
The ICC was established to accelerate judicial efforts to end impunity to global crimes including genocides, war crimes and other crimes against humanity
July 17 is observed as the World Day for International Justice, commemorating the adoption of the Rome Statute, after the Rome Conference in 1998 and led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The day stands denotes the efforts by the international community to address and prevent the most grievous atrocities.
The philosophy of International Justice is important in the current geopolitical scenario, as the world is in the phase of ‘Globalisation,’ with crimes also going global. The world, currently is witnessing multiple ‘televised’ genocides, waged by some of the world leaders, with common people, especially children and women facing the wrath of it.
The ICC was established to accelerate legalised efforts to end impunity to global crimes including genocides, war crimes and other crimes against humanity.
The ICC operates independently of national borders, with its member nations agreeing on common policies on international criminal law framework, ensuring the world is a more just place to live in. It tries individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.
While the ICC does not have its own police force, it relies upon the member nations to enforce prosecution or arrests of accused persons.
The member nations of the ICC are obliged legally to be under the jurisdiction of the laws made by it, in addition to the domestic judicial system of those countries
If the ICC issues a warrant of arrest of a person it deems as criminal, the member nations are obliged to arrest them if he or she steps foot on their land.
One of the most famous persons currently who has an arrest warrant from the ICC is Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was given a wanted status along with Yoav Gallant, the then Former Minister of Defense of Israel in 2024, over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, owing to the atrocities over the people of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
The arrest warrant makes Netanyahu a wanted criminal in all the member nations. For example, if Natanyahu is to enter the United Kingdom, the UK police will have to arrest him, even if he is the sovereign head of a different nation.
The arrest warrant on Netanyahu restricted him from entering 125 nations across all the continents, including all of Latin America and most of Europe. Notably USA and India are absent from this list of nations because India and USA are not ICC member nations.
India is a notable absentee among world nations in the ICC. It had abstained from voting in the Rome Statute in 1998, citing various differences. The most important one, according to the delegates, were the disproportionate veto powers given to the UN Security Council, namely Russia, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
India also wanted to include the crime of terrorism, which India feels it faces the biggest threat, to be included in the statute of crimes, which the ICC did not.
Another reason India abstained from becoming a member of the ICC was that the ICC not recognise the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction as a war crime.