International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• International Criminal Court (ICC)
• What is the ICC?
• How does the ICC function?
• Criticisms of the ICC
• News Summary: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

 

Why in news?

• The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.
• The arrest warrant for Mr. Putin, a sitting head of state of a U.N. Security Council member, is an unprecedented step for the ICC.

 

International Criminal Court (ICC)

What is the ICC?

• About
  • The International Criminal Court is a permanent court to prosecute serious international crimes committed by individuals. 
  • It tries crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.
  • The court was established to fight global impunity and bring to justice criminals under international law, regardless of their rank or stature.
    • It is different from the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, also at The Hague.
• HQ
  • The Hague, The Netherlands
• Statute 
  • Before the ICC became functional in 2002, its founding treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1998 in Rome, Italy, thereby making it the Rome Statute.
• Membership
  • To become a member of the ICC or State party to the Rome Statute, countries have to sign the statute and ratify it under their respective legislatures. 
  • 123 countries are currently members of the ICC, with African countries making up the largest bloc. 
  • Notably, countries including India, China, Iraq, North Korea and Turkey never signed the Rome Statute.
  • Others including the US, Russia, Israel and Syria signed, but never ratified it.

 

How does the ICC function?

• Judges & Prosecutors
  • The court carries out its investigations through the Office of the Prosecutor and has 18 judges. 
  • Both the judges and prosecutors hold non-renewable nine-year terms.
• Process
  • There are pre-trial, trial, and appellate benches in the ICC. 
  • The prosecutor conducts a preliminary examination in a matter, before seeking permission from pre-trial judges to open a full investigation. 
    • The initial examination must conclude that the crimes in question are of sufficient gravity.
• Ways to open investigations
  • The prosecutor can open an investigation in three ways: 
    • when a case is referred by a member country in its own territory; 
    • when a case is referred by the UN Security Council; and 
    • when the prosecutor takes up a case proprio motu or on his own. 
  • Non-member states can also be investigated in three ways: 
    • if alleged crimes were perpetrated by non-members in member states, 
    • if the non-members accept the court’s jurisdiction, or 
    • when the Security Council authorises it.

 

Criticisms of the ICC

• Pace of investigation and judgements
  • The court has been criticised for the pace of investigations and judgements. 
  • After 19 years of being active, the court has convicted 10 persons accused in a small number of cases and acquitted four individuals.
  • Hence, some experts question whether the time, efforts and financial resources invested in the court by member countries is worth the outcome. 
    • The court’s annual budget for 2021 was over $160 million.
• Afraid to take actions against Western powers
  • Critics also point out at the fact that the court may be shying away from taking on western powers like the United States.
  • This was pointed out first, when the court denied permission to start an investigation into Afghanistan in 2019, and second, when the current prosecutor wanted to restart the investigation after the Taliban takeover.
• Bias against African countries
  • Another point of contention is that barring recent years, the court, since its formation, largely took up investigations into alleged crimes committed in African countries. 
  • All of the nearly 30 cases currently in the trial stage before the court are from African countries. 
    • The African Union in 2016 had endorsed a proposal led by Kenya for a mass withdrawal from the Rome Statute. 
    • The vote on this proposal, however, was symbolic.

 

News Summary: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

• The ICC announced an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
  • It is alleged that more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the February 24, 2022 invasion.
• Moscow dismissed the orders as void. 
  • Russia is not a party to the ICC so it was unclear if or how Mr. Putin could ever end up in the dock.

 

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Q1) What is International Court of Justice (ICJ)?

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It is often referred to as the World Court and is based in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICJ was established in 1945 to settle legal disputes between states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by the UN General Assembly, Security Council, or other UN organs and specialized agencies.

 

Q2) What is Rome Statute?

The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), an international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the most serious crimes of international concern, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. The Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 at a diplomatic conference held in Rome, Italy, and entered into force on July 1, 2002, after being ratified by 60 countries. As of 2021, 123 countries have ratified the Rome Statute and are therefore members of the ICC.

 

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Source: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes | Government of the Netherlands |Financial Express |The Hindu