For an effective international law : from the preparatory committee to the diplomatic conference for the establishment of an international criminal court : the commitment of the international community [Yoram Dinstein]

Abstract

Instead of making a formal presentation, I would like to address a number of issues that have arisen in the course of the discussion today. Let me start with credentials: I have been in favour of the establishment of an International Criminal Court for the last thirty years: indeed, for the last twenty-five years in collaboration with our distinguished Chairman. We have been talking about an International Criminal Court when nobody wanted to hear the words, when the idea appeared absurd and bizarre, like a UFO. It is precisely for that reason that I am not obsessed by the deadline of 1998, which is totally artificial. The International Criminal Court has absolutely nothing to do with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948), which does not relate to crimes against peace, to war crimes, to crimes against humanity, or for that matter even to genocide. [excerpt]