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The International Criminal Court's Threat to America
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is more aggressive than ever. Last month, at the ten year review conference in Uganda, the ICC added the crime of aggression to its jurisdiction and agreed upon a definition. The task of the conference overall was to assess the success of the institution and to strengthen it through amendments. The purpose of the ICC as an international institution created to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity is lofty. But, a lofty goal cannot atone for the tremendous threat that this court poses to America's first principles.
As Marion Smith writes in his essay, "An Inconvenient Founding: America's Principles Applied to the ICC," the ICC fundamentally challenges America's first principles. For instance, the ICC's jurisdiction enables the body to prosecute crimes committed by Americans against Americans in U.S. territory, even if the U.S. investigates and concludes that no crime occurred or that there is insufficient evidence to convict a suspect. Also, the system of legal due processes adopted by the ICC differs radically from the due process guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. Most egregiously, there is no right to trial by jury or to a speedy trial. Moreover, the ICC would easily become a tool for political prosecutions, since the independent prosecutor would be unaccountable to any electors in America.
America has long rejected any institutions or arrangements that would subjugate its people to foreign jurisdictions and deny the basic protection of the rule law. In fact, the Declaration of Independence protested King George III's "subjecting us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution" and consequently having "deprived us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury"; and "transporting us beyond the seas to be tried for pretended offences."
The ten year review conference did not remedy the problems inherent to the ICC. Rather, it exacerbates them. A nation's right to self defense is a fundamental aspect of self-government. But, the addition of "aggression" to the ICC's jurisdiction only increases the likelihood that the ICC will threaten the national sovereignty and security interests of the United States. This threat is evident in the ICC's current investigation of alleged war crimes committed by NATO and U.S. troops. America, therefore, must not join—or even support the activity of—the ICC.
There is a moral imperative to seek justice, but there is no moral imperative to globalize it. It is far from obvious that international justice is best served by putting it into the hands of the ICC. But it is certain that such an unaccountable, international institution represents a tremendous challenge to America's first principles.
Keep Reading about the ICC's threat to America's First Principles
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Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty.
~ John Adams
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