International Criminal Court threatens constitutional sovereignty

You may have thought or you may think that the highest court in existence is the U.S. Supreme Court, who debatably decided the most controversial presidential election race in history.

To an extent you are correct. But only temporarily. Since 1989, when the United Nations asked the International Law Commission to address the question of establishing an international criminal court, the United Nations has progressively worked toward this goal.

In 1994, the ILC completed a draft statute for an international court, and on July 17,1998, at the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, adopted the “Rome Statute Of The International Criminal Court.”

It was then opened for signatures in Rome until Oct. 17, 1998, and at the U.N. headquarters in New York until Dec. 31, the date on which both Israel and the United States signed the document.

Now established at The Hague in the Netherlands, the International Criminal Court, a court with 18 judges from different countries, whose jurisdiction over “war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime of genocide and crimes of aggression” could supersede even the Supreme Court, will be able to try individuals even from the United States.

The court recognizes that “… during this century millions of children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity,” and says it is determined to “… put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes …” and “… contribute to the prevention of these crimes.” However, there are certain legal and constitutional aspects about the court that appear to overlook or even undermine our constitutional sovereignty.

Although an International Criminal Court would have the ability to charge ruthless or unjust political leaders and public officials, our Constitution provides in Article 3, section 2 that “in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.”

Furthermore, regarding the fact that this international court is overseas, our Constitution also guarantees in Article 3, section 2 that the “trial of all crime ... shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed.”

The Sixth Amendment to the constitution also secures that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.”

The legal merit of this international court is another thing that should be questioned. According to author and nationally known journalist Cliff Kincaid, in response to the Bosnia tribunal, which was similar but not as powerful as the new International Criminal Court, the United Nations has no legal authority or power even under the U.N. charter to “put people in jail under criminal charges.”

Analyst C. Douglas Lummis also states that “if the U.N. takes on the powers to arrest, prosecute, sentence and imprison individuals, it is taking on sovereign powers hitherto reserved to states …”

Despite the United Nations’ supposedly good intentions on stopping cruelty and atrocities, even though they help create atrocities like in Kosovo and cover their eyes to keep from seeing atrocities like in Rwanda, giving away our national sovereignty will never bring about any kind of peace. This truth which must be preserved is evident in the reality that our founding fathers fought vigorously so that this nation could be a self-governing one.

John Sargent is a freshman computer science major from Fort Worth. He can be reached at (j.w.sargent@student.tcu.edu).

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