ICC leaders condemn efforts to erode international legal order

The existent and erstwhile heads of the ICC’s governing assemblage accidental unit connected the tribunal threatens planetary law, arsenic Washington widens sanctions and retreats from multilateral institutions.

The existent and erstwhile presidents of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) governing assemblage person said that efforts to isolate the instauration diplomatically are aimed astatine eroding assurance successful the planetary ineligible ⁠order, arsenic US President Donald Trump’s medication has pressured countries to isolate the ICC.

“Efforts to isolate the Court diplomatically – whether by encouraging States Parties to retreat from the Rome Statute oregon urging non-States Parties to articulation measures ⁠intended to weaken it – are aimed astatine eroding not lone 1 institution, but assurance successful the planetary ineligible bid itself,” Paivi Kaukoranta, the existent president of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, and 7 erstwhile presidents said successful a associated op-ed published connected Thursday.

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In the portion that appeared connected the Just Security instrumentality and argumentation journal’s website, they argued that the ICC represented a corporate determination by sovereign states to make rules for prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, warfare crimes and the transgression of aggression. The court, they stressed, is not intended to regenerate nationalist justness systems.

“The ICC is simply a tribunal of past resort,” the authors wrote.

They besides rejected the statement that the tribunal needfully undermines authorities sovereignty, saying that countries joining planetary treaties and institutions are exercising sovereignty alternatively than surrendering it.

A poster announcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arsenic wanted by the International Criminal Court, connected October 6, 2025, successful Krakow, Poland [Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

The connection comes arsenic the Trump medication sanctioned ICC judges and officials and pressured countries to region themselves from the court.

The US, which is not a subordinate of the ICC, has powerfully opposed its cases involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and past investigations involving US personnel.

But the existent and erstwhile assembly presidents framed the quality much broadly, informing against a satellite successful which governmental powerfulness determines erstwhile planetary instrumentality applies.

“The prime earlier america is betwixt a satellite based connected the regularisation of instrumentality and 1 wherever mightiness decides what is right,” they wrote.

They called connected the ICC’s 125 subordinate states, planetary and determination organisations and different supporters of planetary instrumentality to supply the tribunal with political, ineligible and applicable backing and to assistance governments defy unit to weaken it. “Now is the clip to fortify the institutions that uphold planetary law, not dismantle them.”

A pro-Palestine protestation gathers connected the Main Square successful Krakow, Poland, connected December 21, 2024 [Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

Washington has sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the UN peculiar rapporteur connected the occupied Palestinian territory, implicit what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described arsenic efforts to punctual ICC enactment against Israeli officials.

The Trump medication has besides ended US information successful the UN Human Rights Council, halted backing to UNRWA and withdrawn from UNESCO and the World Health Organization.

In January, Trump ordered the US to permission dozens much planetary and UN bodies, including UN Women, the UN Population Fund and the UN clime convention, saying they conflicted with US interests and sovereignty.