International Law Review

International Law Review

The Effect of the United Nations Security Council on the Politicization of the International Criminal Court

Document Type : academic

Authors
Behzad Razavifard 1
Mohammad Barati 2
1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabatabai University
2 Ph.D. Candidate in Criminal Law and Criminology, Allameh Tabatabai University
10.22066/cilamag.2023.701344
Abstract
Two international organizations, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Security Council, due to their relationship with each other, have become the subject of discussions in international law. The first one has judicial duties and the second one has political ones. Although the coexistence of these two organizations is based on the provisions of ICC Statute (Articles 12 to 16), it has brought challenges as well. Despite the efforts to compile ICC Statute, and thedevelopments in international law, considering its connection with the Security Council, some international criminal law writers still view it as a political issue. Although the mere connection of the Security Council with the Court will not causes confrontation and politicization of the Court, in order to maintain its efficiency, legitimacy, and independence while remaining loyal to the Statute, in some cases (such as deferral prosecution or investigation), the court must obey the Security Council. What happens in the relationship between these two organizations has been studied in this research and the findings of the research indicate that the Security Council can use its tools to exert a political influence on the Court. But the important question is that in what way and based on what criteria is the Security Council able to exert political influence on the Court? It seem that the Security Council and the world's great powers at the head of it, considering their interests, can exert a political influence on this judicial organization in various ways, such as guiding the way of referrals and controlling the Court.
Keywords
Politicization
The International Criminal Court (ICC)
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
The Referral power
The Deferral Power

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    - Instruments

    1. American Servicemimber Protection Act
    2. International Peace Institute (IPI), “The Relationship between the ICC and Security Council: Challenges and Opportunities”, March 2013.
    3. Negotiated Relationship Agreement.
    4. UNDOC S/Res/1421 (3 January 2002)
    5. UNDOC S/Res/1487 (12 June 2003)
    6. UNDOC S/Res/1497 (1 October 2003)
    7. UNDOC S/Res/1593 (31 March 2005)
    8. UNDOC S/Res/1970 (20 February 2011)
    • Theses
    1. Trif, D. silvina, A New Hegemony: International Criminal Justice and Politics of International Security, Ph. D. Thesis, Deer Freien Universitat Berlin, 2014.

  • Receive Date 06 May 2022
  • Revise Date 23 November 2022
  • Accept Date 24 December 2022