THE DIGEST OF THE ROLES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) TOWARD ENFORCEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS: MAKING WITH REFERENCE TO THE WAR OF GAZA AND VETO POWER INFLUENCE

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the international permanent judicial body established under Article 1 of Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998 which entered into force in 1 July, 2002. And its main primary function is to investigate and prosecute individual who is alleged to have been committed international crime(s) of international concern which are falling under the jurisdiction of the court. This being the organ vested with the mandate of enforcing international laws by punishing persons who committed serious international crime such as genocide, war crime, crime against humanity and crime of aggression, in Gaza this mandate lacks reality because the situation in Gaza pose serious question to the International Criminal Court’s mandate in prosecuting the perpetrator(s) of international crimes committed in Gaza. The international criminal court (ICC) is the international body with holding individual and regime accountable for war crime and genocide which include the use of dangerous explosive weapons. However, effort to bring the Israeli government to justice for these crimes have been unsuccessful, as currently Israel continued to commit genocide and war crime in Gaza which fall under the mandate of International Criminal Court with no any enforcement measures taken by the court toward Israel regime in Gaza. While the Rome Statute provides for the foundational legal framework for accountability, the Gaza war has exposed serious limitation in the court jurisdiction reach, investigative capacity and reliance of veto power influence.

This allegation is justified basing on the idea that the massive bombardment imposed in Gaza which causes indiscriminate effects to civilian’s amount to war crime and genocide. This fact creates question on what role do the International Criminal Court has in enforcing and prosecuting the perpetrator of the international crimes in Gaza. It is from these facts that this peace of academic work was planned, crafted and communicated on attempting to elaborate challenges of International Criminal Court to ward prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of the international crime Gaza.