Geographical and Jurisdictional Reach of ICC: Gaps in the International Criminal Justice System and a Role for Internationalized Bodies

Abstract

On July 1, 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into force. The establishment of the ICC can be considered a great achievement in the work for prosecution of gross violations of humanitarian law and human rights by individuals. Its purpose is to provide a permanent criminal forum, potentially with universal reach, to try war crimes and gross violations of human rights. On the other hand, the internationalized courts and tribunals in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, and East Timor were created in the interregnum between the adoption of the Rome Statute and its entry into force. This chapter examines the range of the ICC's jurisdiction to determine to what extent, and in which instances, internationalized criminal bodies might help try the most horrendous crimes.