International Law: International Criminal Law

International Criminal Law is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration . International Humanitarian Law took its modern form after World War II in a bid to prevent a repeat of the horrors that took place in the trenches and concentration camps. A lot of cruel, horrendous and barbaric crimes were committed in the course of the war as the hostages were treated inhumanely by their captors. The whole world was in chaos because of the war between the Eastern and the Western blocs. The resultant effect was the extermination and killing of the citizenry massively. Many people were

As a result of this, at the end of the war, the United Nations General Assembly and the victorious Allied Powers i.e. United States of America, France, Britain and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics set up ad hoc tribunals for the purpose of investigating, prosecuting and punishing the guilty war criminals to serve as deterrence to others . This was done to prevent other would-be criminals from carrying out their cruel, debasing, dehumanising and undignifying acts. The tribunals were located in the countries where the barbaric acts were committed and due to their ad hoc nature, they were disbanded after their mission had been completed . The tribunals include the Nuremberg tribunal, Tokyo tribunal, Special Court for Sierra Leone, Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Yugoslavia Tribunal. The tribunals laid down the precedent that superior orders will not be a defence to criminal liability. Therefore, anybody alleged to have committed international crimes cannot say he acted against his own will but will be held solely responsible for his actions . The tribunals were a watershed in International Criminal Law recognizing individual responsibility for international crimes. The tribunals recorded many achievements but were equally flawed with criticisms.

However, a permanent Court was not established - two events that shocked the world’s conscience in Yugoslavia and Rwanda necessitated immediate action from the United Nations which was tasked with creating ad hoc tribunals to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the respective countries. The process of setting up the tribunals, long court delays and operational expenses of the tribunals, among other reasons, made the U.N. Security Council less willing to set up similar tribunals culminating in the eventual establishment of the International Criminal Court.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main aim of this study is to assess the appraisal of international crimes and operations of the international criminal court. The specific objectives include the following:

1. To investigate the main reasons for the establishment of International Criminal Court.

2. To examine the impact of international criminal court for the development of international humanitarian