Can the International Criminal Court Succeed? An Analysis of the Empirical Evidence of Violence Prevention

Despite significant optimism about the future of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) during its early years, recently there has been growing criticism of it by both scholars and governments. As a result, there appears to be more doubt about the ICC’s ability to succeed now than at any other point in its history. So, are the critics correct? Is the ICC failing?

No. This Article argues that, not only can the ICC succeed, there is strong evidence that it is already succeeding. It analyzes several recent empirical articles that have convincingly demonstrated that the ICC prevents serious violations of international criminal law. Prevention of violations is the principal goal of the ICC. Therefore, by preventing violence, the ICC is already accomplishing its most important goal.

In other words, it is already succeeding. This may not be the dominant narrative about the Court, but it should be.