Essay on "United States and the International"

Essay 4 pages (1478 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The U.S. feels that these aspects of the ICC and contradictory to the U.S. constitution.

Another reason why the U.S. is not a member of the ICC is that the ICC would try American citizens for crimes which are committed in American soil and which are within the jurisdiction of the American courts. The Supreme Court of the U.S. has the jurisdiction to try such offenses Martinez, 2011.

This is in addition to the allegations above.

Additionally since the constitution of the U.S. only permits one Supreme Court to be created, the participation of the U.S. In the ICC would violate this statement of the constitution Martinez, 2011.

What the Bush administration failed to see here is that the ICC would not be a court created in the U.S., rather it would function internationally.

American policies towards the ICC

The U.S. has had issues with the ICC over its statute, jurisdiction and accountability. These differences remain unresolved to date. However, there have been two actions that have refocused its domestic and international attention on its policy towards the ICC. The first is the ASPA (American Service-members' Protection Act) which has a number of provisions which provides military aid to those countries that have ratified the treaty that established the ICC. This is in exception to the NATO members who had entered into a treaty with the U.S. not to hand over U.S. nationals to the ICC. The ASPA has been criticized a lot by the U.S. department of defense O'Keefe, 2011()

The Nethercutt Amendment is the other action. It was brought about by George Nethercutt who was the former representative to the foreign operations, export financing and related programs appropriations act. This amendment imposed cuts to the economic aid provided to member states of the Rome Statute and not cuts in military aid.

Problems should the U.S. join the ICC

As a result of the provisions of the U.S. constitution and the attitudes of the U.S. administration as earlier described, there are problems which are bound to arise should the U.S. decide to join the ICC. One is widespread resistance from the anti-ICC community. Second problem is that there is a conflict between the U.S. Supreme Court and the ICC regarding their jurisdiction. This is because the U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and can try on war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity which is the same domain as for the ICC.

Conclusion

When the ICC was being established by the Rome Statute, the Clinton Administration agreed to sign the treaty. However, they refused to present it to the senate for ratification. When the Bush administration came in, they wrote a letter to the UN secretary general threatening to suspend their signature. The Obama administration on the other hand is trying to cooperate with the ICC toward helping other countries in the world. However, despite this cooperation, there is no intention to ratify the Rome Statute. The U.S. is not a member of the ICC because it feels that the statute, jurisdiction and accountability of the ICC is wanting and until this issue is ironed out. The U.S. will never become a member of the ICC.

References

Admire, D. (2011). The international criminal court revisited: an American perspective. Texas Review of Law & Politics, 15(2), 339-358.

Bogdan, A. (2008). The United States and the International Criminal Court: Avoiding Jurisdiction Through Bilateral Agreements in Reliance on Article 98. International Criminal Law Review, 8(1/2), 1-54. doi: 10.1163/156753608x265222

Bohien, R. (2010). Questioning authority: a case for the international criminal court's prosecution of the current Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir. [Article]. George Washington International Law Review, 42(3), 687-712.

Elewa Badar, M., & Karsten, N. (2008). Current Developments at the International Criminal Tribunals. [Article]. International Criminal Law Review, 8(1/2), 353-379. doi: 10.1163/156753608x265330

Fairlie, M.A. (2011). The United States and the International Criminal Court Post-Bush: A Beautiful Courtship but an Unlikely Marriage. Berkeley Journal of International Law, 29(2), 528-576.

Martinez, J.S. (2011). International courts and the U.S. constitution: reexamining the history. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 159(4), 1069-1140.

O'Keefe, R. (2011). The United States and the ICC: the force and farce of the legal arguments. [Article]. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 24(3), 335-355. doi: 10.1080/09557571003793682 READ MORE

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