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 [Giuseppe Di Federico]

Abstract

Let me first thank very warmly the organizers of this important Conference for having invited me. Even more for having listed my name among the keynote speakers, though I am not so sure to be able to strike the proper keys or notes in my speech. I say this with cause because while I can be considered, with due indulgence, an expert in the area of comparative judicial systems at the national level by no means can I be considered such with reference to international courts of justice. In doing my homework for this Conference I got very much entangled with the relevant literature and the debates held so far in the attempt to define the conditions under which a much hoped for international court of criminal justice could properly and effectively function: the scope of its jurisdiction, the definition of the internationally relevant crimes, court procedure, ways to ensure both that the court be independent and that it appears to be such (the protection of independence in both of its aspects being at the international level an even more crucial element of legitimization than at the national level). [excerpt]