The International Criminal Court An Independent...

Saad Alshammari 23rd April 2016 The International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court is an independent international organization that is governed by the Rome Statute that is the first international criminal court that is permanent. Its establishment was as a result for the need to bring justice upon perpetrators that commit serious crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute which is the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court was approved on 17th July 1998 but it was not until almost four years later on 1st July 2002 that the International Criminal Court came into force (Swoboda). The creation of the permanent international court was not an abrupt process but rather a culmination of events that†¦show more content†¦There were however a number of shortcomings to the Nuremberg trials which the ICC has gone to rectify and improve. There has been four major shortcomings levied on the Nuremberg trials. One was that it was a victor’s tribunal meaning that it was created by the victors and the parties that were involved in the conflict. The second shortcoming was that the defendants were indicted, prosecuted and punished for newly defined crimes that were expressly defined and adopted by the victors when the war ended (Citron). Third was that the Nuremberg trials violated the defendants due process as it worked on limited procedural rules that did not protect the rights of the accused as adequately as possible. The last shortcoming was that because there was no appellate chamber the trials served as a first and last resort(Bush Telford). This meant that the prosecuted could not appeal their case as there was no chamber to appeal to. Since the Nuremberg trials, the next international criminal tribunals were established in the 1990s. They were formed with the aim to offer justice against atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The ICTY was established in1993 while the ICTR was established the year that followed. The ICTY was established as a result of mass atrocities that were carried out in Bosnia, Croatia and Herzegovina