Is the ICC greater than the sum of its parts?

By: Ariela Blatter

Part II: This is the second post from Ariela Blatter, Director of Policy and Programs for Citizens for Global Solutions. Ariela is attending the 8th Resumed Session of the Assembly of States Parties in New York City this week.

Calling the ICC a "game-changer" in international relations and international criminal law, Ambassador Christian Wenaweser of Liechtenstein, Chair of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, spoke last night about the US relationship with the Court. Against the backdrop of this weeks meeting of delegates at the UN, Ambassador Wenaweser painted a picture of the ICC as more than just an institution; instead, it is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, the Court is more than the individual preferences and beliefs of the States that support it.  Although he took great pains to remain neutral during his panel presentation at NYU, his remarks were directed at the US, represented by Ambassador Stephen Rapp, to make a leap of faith by putting the need for achieving international criminal justice above any of its own agenda or its "national interests" as it considers its future policy on the Court. That may be a hard pill for the US to swallow, who stated very clearly on the floor of the Assembly and during this panel that there is a lot that needs to be done to bring the Court to the highest level of effectiveness. And top of the US's list of things that still need to be done, with no leap of faith on the horizon, is reworking or removing the crime of aggression.

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