Thin Yadanr, tmy24@uakron.edu
International court is a judicial body that resolves disputes between countries. International law is the system of rules and principles that govern how states and neighboring nations should interact and this includes issues like human rights, war crimes, or environmental protection. The question on the surface is whether these international courts and laws are as effective or relevant as they should be. The International court of Justice settles disputes between the 193 UN member states and makes it an important piece of keeping global peace. However, the international system is anarchic and in a world of anarchy, there is no international court that controls all under one government. Despite the intentions of the international organizations at keeping treaties and peace, international courts exist within international politics but it is influenced by power dynamics. Realists would argue that these courts barely touch the strong power states. When the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin for committing war crimes, he was still allowed to visit a number of countries and China even hardened their relationship with Russia. This could be the same for the United States and the prime minister of Israel, as Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted for arrest for the atrocities done to Gaza. There is a lack of moral consensus in the eyes of powerful nations as everything comes back to national interest or the good of their individual nation. Even though it lacks a moral consensus, we also have to consider there is a political responsibility of these countries, that has to put national interest for the greater good of that country in the eyes of political leaders. It is important to understand how international law and courts have layers of complications. A treaty is a binding formal agreement between two sovereigns that establishes obligations to two or more groups of international regimes and it must be ratified to hold the country responsible. The United States is known for signing several conventions without ever ratifying it. One example of this is the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which was signed by President Jimmy Carter but was never ratified because it amounted to “socialism”. Another example I found interesting is the Conventions of the Right of the Child which was signed in 1995 but has not proceeded to ratify it since. The CRC aims to protect the rights of the children and calls for state properties to ensure the rights are always protected. It is the most widely recognized and ratified human rights treaty in the world, the two countries that haven’t ratified it are the United States and Somalia. According to the United States Congressional Research Service, “policymakers' concerns are whether or not the treaty is the most effective mechanism in protecting children's rights”. There was a strong opposition from Members of Congress. The Bush Administration argued that it invaded the U.S laws protecting privacy and family rights. The United States, like other powerful nations, don’t love the idea of being caught in the spiderwebs of being held accountable for breaking international law and would like as much control as possible when it comes to human rights issues. Throughout history, international conflicts and intervention has been a tricky issue especially when it comes to cases of genocide and mass violence. During the Rwandan genocide, there was a lack of international intervention and there has been evidence to show it could have been prevented. Due to the complexity of the law and what defines genocide, there was a lack of action. There are other cases, where nations choose to hold back on assistance when it means losing resources, troops, and money for the benefit of neighboring communities due to national interest alone. As citizens, we find ourselves asking when is it enough? How many more have to die? Is the choice between a moral census and political census truly that difficult? There are so many questions that might never be answered but the only thing many of us have is hope for a better future.
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