What’s the point of international law? | Start Here
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the complexities of international law, highlighting its role in maintaining global order and addressing issues like state sovereignty and accountability. It discusses the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), their functions, and the challenges they face, such as non-compliance by states and the political influence on their decisions. The script also touches on the significance of international law in everyday life, despite its perceived distance, and the ongoing debates about its effectiveness and the need for reform.
Takeaways
- 📜 International law is a complex system of rules designed to govern relations between countries and protect humanity.
- ⚖️ The UN's top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), can order countries to comply with its decisions, but it has limited enforcement power.
- 🚫 Israel has been ordered by the ICJ to halt operations in southern Gaza, but has not complied, highlighting the enforcement challenges in international law.
- 🔍 International law affects everyday life in ways that may not be immediately apparent, such as through trade agreements and travel treaties.
- 🌐 Customary law, which consists of unwritten standards and practices, is a significant part of international law alongside written treaties and agreements.
- 🏛 The ICJ has the dual role of settling disputes between UN member states and providing advisory opinions on international law questions.
- 🚨 The ICJ's rulings can take years to be enforced, and non-compliance by countries like Israel and the US has raised questions about the court's effectiveness.
- 🔗 International law lacks a centralized authority, police force, or court system, leading to a complex web of courts, tribunals, and treaties.
- 🌍 The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutes individuals for the most serious crimes, such as genocide and war crimes, but has faced criticism for its perceived focus on African cases.
- 🔄 The ICC's jurisdiction is based on the consent of states, and it can only act when states are unable or unwilling to prosecute serious crimes themselves.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of international law?
-International law is designed to protect all individuals by providing a system of rules that regulate how countries interact with each other, from sharing resources to conducting war, aiming to avoid chaos and establish minimum standards of humanity.
How does international law affect everyday life?
-International law affects everyday life in various ways, such as facilitating cross-border travel through treaties like the Schengen Agreement and influencing the cost of goods through international trade agreements that control import fees.
What are the two main sources of international law mentioned in the script?
-The two main sources of international law are treaties and agreements that are written down, and customary law, which consists of unwritten standards and practices that most countries agree on.
What role does the International Court of Justice (ICJ) play in the international legal system?
-The ICJ settles disputes between UN member states and provides advisory opinions on questions of international law. It is considered the epicenter of international law where it interprets and applies rules to avoid conflicts and wars.
Why is enforcement of ICJ rulings sometimes challenging?
-Enforcement of ICJ rulings can be challenging because there is no single global police force or court system with the authority to enforce its decisions. The UN Security Council can get involved, but permanent members with veto power can block enforcement efforts.
What is the significance of the ICJ's advisory opinion on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories?
-The ICJ's advisory opinion on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories declared it unlawful, highlighting the court's role in interpreting international law and its influence on the dialogue about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Why has the International Criminal Court (ICC) been criticized for its focus on African cases?
-The ICC has been criticized because most of its early cases were from Africa, leading to accusations of bias. However, the ICC argues that this pattern is circumstantial, stemming from initial investigations requested by the UN Security Council or African governments themselves.
How can the ICC prosecute individuals from non-member states?
-The ICC can prosecute individuals from non-member states if the UN Security Council refers a situation to the court, or if a non-member state accepts the ICC's jurisdiction over a specific situation, as Ukraine did for alleged crimes committed by Russian forces.
What is the significance of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin?
-The issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin signifies the ICC's jurisdiction over serious international crimes and its commitment to holding individuals accountable, regardless of their political status, for alleged violations such as the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.
Why is it unlikely that Putin will be arrested despite the ICC's arrest warrant?
-It is unlikely that Putin will be arrested because Russia does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction, and the execution of the warrant depends on international cooperation, which is unlikely from Moscow or countries that may be influenced by Russia.
Outlines
🌍 International Law: Protecting Global Order
The paragraph introduces international law as a system of rules designed to protect global citizens. It discusses the challenges when these rules are broken, exemplified by the UN's top court ordering Israel to halt operations in southern Gaza, which Israel has not complied with. The narrative also touches on the limitations of international law enforcement, especially when powerful states like Russia, with President Vladimir Putin being a 'wanted man', seem to evade consequences. The paragraph sets the stage for a deeper exploration of international law, its effectiveness, and its role in everyday life, such as facilitating borderless travel and trade agreements.
🏛️ The International Court of Justice (ICJ): Role and Limitations
This paragraph delves into the workings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which settles disputes between UN member states and provides advisory opinions on international law. It highlights the ICJ's inability to enforce its rulings, as demonstrated by its order for Israel to halt military operations in Gaza, which was not complied with. The paragraph also discusses the ICJ's role in interpreting and applying international law to prevent conflicts and the challenges it faces due to the political influence of powerful states, such as the US, Russia, and China, which can block enforcement through their veto powers in the UN Security Council.
🔍 The International Criminal Court (ICC): Pursuing Justice for International Crimes
The focus shifts to the International Criminal Court (ICC), established to prosecute individuals for the most serious violations of international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The paragraph outlines the ICC's jurisdiction, which is based on the Rome Statute and can include non-member states under certain conditions. It also addresses criticisms of the ICC, particularly its perceived focus on African cases, and the challenges in enforcing arrest warrants against high-profile individuals like Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted for alleged involvement in the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.
⏳ The Long Arm of International Justice: The Case of Vladimir Putin
This paragraph discusses the implications of the ICC's arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the complexities of enforcing such a warrant. It highlights the political and practical challenges in apprehending a sitting head of state, even when an international court has issued an arrest warrant. The narrative underscores the potential for political changes to influence future compliance with international justice, drawing parallels to historical cases like the Nuremberg Trials. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the enduring nature of international justice and the possibility that, despite current obstacles, justice may eventually be served.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡International Law
💡UN's Top Court
💡Customary Law
💡Treaties
💡State Sovereignty
💡Enforcement
💡International Criminal Court (ICC)
💡Genocide
💡Rome Statute
💡Human Rights
Highlights
The UN's top court ordered Israel to halt operations in southern Gaza, but Israel is not complying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged involvement in unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.
International law is a system of treaties and agreements regulating relations between countries, including trade, war, and environmental protections.
International law includes both written treaties and customary, unwritten standards that most countries agree on.
There is no global police force or singular court system to enforce international law, making compliance with court rulings dependent on state cooperation.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) settles disputes between states and provides advisory opinions, but lacks enforcement power without the UN Security Council's backing.
The Security Council's veto power allows permanent members like the US, Russia, and China to block enforcement of ICJ rulings, limiting its effectiveness.
Despite frustration, the ICJ still sees compliance with its rulings in more than 90% of cases, such as Uganda paying reparations to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There is criticism that political leaders are often unwilling to fully participate in international justice systems, limiting their impact.
The ICC prosecutes individuals for international crimes like genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, but only as a court of last resort.
The ICC has been criticized for disproportionately focusing on African cases, though it has recently expanded investigations to places like Ukraine, Myanmar, and Venezuela.
The ICC can prosecute individuals from non-member states if requested by the UN Security Council or if the state accepts ICC jurisdiction, as Ukraine did.
Arrest warrants issued by the ICC, such as for Putin, rely on international cooperation for enforcement, with no guarantee of extradition.
Political changes can lead to enforcement of ICC arrest warrants years later, as seen in past cases like Slobodan Milosevic and Nazi war criminals.
The long-term message of international law is that accountability exists, even if justice is delayed, with frameworks like the ICC promising eventual prosecution for war crimes.
Transcripts
let's talk about international law it's
a system of rules designed to protect us
all but sometimes those rules get broken
the un's top court has ordered Israel to
immediately halt its operations in
southern Gaza Israel has to comply with
this but Israel will not Russian
President Vladimir Putin is now
officially a wanted man it's a bold
statement the issuing of this arrest
warrant but it will likely have little
effect whatsoever so naturally people
are asking what is the point of
international law law is meaningless
always too little
too Target our enemies so I'm going to
the hay which is basically the capital
of international law to explain how it
all works why some people think it's
flawed and why others say it's
misunderstood so international law might
feel pretty removed from your day-to-day
life but it affects us all in ways we
might not even realize the train I took
to get here crossed two European borders
but there were no passport checks thanks
to an EU treaty called the shenen
convention this coffee could have been
more expensive were it not for
international trade agreements that
control import fees for things like
coffee
beads those are just two examples but
this is essentially what international
law comes down to all of these treaties
and agreements that regulate how
countries deal with each other from how
to share the sea how to collectively
protect the environment to how they
conduct War but it's not just what's
written down there's also what's called
customary law which is basically
Unwritten standards and practices that
most countries agree on and so you end
up with this web of rules and Customs
that together make up international law
no State not even an Island state is an
island States need to relate to each
other it is international law that
provides a framework a
put it bluntly it's a way of avoiding
chaos and more recently it's become a
way of instilling minimum standards of
humanity it's a standard that we should
all seek to
espouse but how it all works in practice
is pretty complicated to understand why
think about how domestic law usually
works in a sovereign country you have a
government with the authority to make
the law which is enforced by police and
a hierarchy of Courts and citizens don't
have a choice in it all but in
international law none of those elements
are clear there is no top layer of power
that can tell Sovereign countries what
to do no Global police force no single
court system instead there are lots of
Courts and tribunals and countries can
mostly pick and choose or change their
minds about which courts and laws they
want to recognize with some exceptions
for the most serious crimes like torture
and genocide the parado of international
law it's is that it's created by states
to control States so it perhaps is not
surprising that states aren't always
willing uh to restrict themselves too
much Molly you've been here in the hay
covering international law for years
what do you think are some of the
biggest frustrations people have with
this whole system what people often want
is you know for bad stuff to not happen
and when bad stuff does happen for the
people who do bad stuff to be held
accountable right like I think we all
want this and when you see these
horrible images that come out of Ukraine
or come out of Gaza what people want is
for this to stop and for the people who
did these things to sort of be held
responsible for them and you look
towards courts like the international
court of justice or
icj the international Court of jce the
Court was set up in 1945 as part of the
United Nations system and the icj has
two roles it settles disputes between UN
member States it also gives out what are
called advisory opinions that's when
another un body asks the court to clear
up a question of international
law a recent example is when the icj's
judges gave an advisory opinion on
Israel's occupation of Palestinian
territories calling it
unlawful there are 15 judges at the icj
all from different
countries Judge Abdul kawi Ahmed yusf is
from Somalia it is an extremely weighty
responsibility for a judge to apply the
rules of law whether they are actually
in favor or not of one of the
parties we are in the Great Hall of
Justice which is actually the hall where
all the hearings and the oral
proceedings of the international court
of justice take place one could describe
it as the epicenter of international law
and where international law is
interpreted and applied in order to
avoid Wars to avoid conflict to avoid
problems between
states the icj deals with all sorts of
cases Australia for example challenged
Japan about its wailing practices
Thailand and Cambodia asked the court to
settle a territorial dispute about the
land surrounding this Ancient Temple
more recently South Africa brought a
case against Israel accusing it of
carrying out genocide against
Palestinians in Gaza genocides are never
declared in advance but this court has
the benefit of the past 13 weeks of
evidence the charge of genocide leveled
against Israel is not only false it's
outrageous a final decision on that case
could take years in the meantime the icj
has ordered Israel to adopt several
provisional measures to protect
civilians in Gaza including ordering
Israel to Halt its military offensive in
Rafa Israel has not complied with the
provisional measures order but yet it's
had its own power its own influence uh
that judgment it's been debated
discussed it's become part of the
dialogue about what's happening in
Israel Palestine this brings us to the
issue of enforcement when a country
doesn't comply with the un's top Court
what then will the icj itself can't do
much about that the UN Security Council
can get involved but there are five
permanent members who have veto powers
and they can block any attempt at
enforcing an icj
judgment that happened in the 1980s when
the icj ruled that the US broke
international law by supporting a
paramilitary group in Nicaragua called
the Contra the security Council held a
vote to force the US to pay reparations
to Nicaragua but the US used its veto
so power matters in international law
and it's certainly the case that certain
states are perceived to get away with
things that other states can't do we are
facing in um 2024 and then the collapse
of the International System the United
States is imposing its veto on
resolution related to Israel Russia is
doing the same regarding Ukraine China
is doing the same regarding Myanmar and
that is the reality of the international
global system and of the place of
international in
[Music]
[Laughter]
it how do you feel as a judge when the
icj rulings aren't complied with well
first of all I must say they are very
rare secondly you always have exceptions
to the rule the most important thing is
that the exception does not become rule
because then the rule of law itself
would be in job party in more than 90%
of the cases the Judgment of the court
is immediately complied with by the
parties I will give you a recent
example there was a case between the
Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda
the Court ruled that Uganda actually
occupied part of the territory of the
DRC and ruled that Uganda would pay more
than $300 million to the DRC Uganda of
course can hardly afford uh $300
million but Uganda started immediately
paying and continuous to
[Music]
pay is there a sense that reforms need
to be made because there is so much
frustration that international law does
not help prevent Mass violence yeah I
think that if you ask people who are
very involved in this world the thing
that they will criticize the most is
that political leaders don't seem to be
willing to act right there's a lot of
push to sort of get political leaders to
kind of participate better in these
systems of international
justice so that was the icj remember it
only deals with
States but there have been many other
courts and tribunals up over the years
to go after individuals accused of
international crimes so we're talking
about the most serious violations of
international law things like genocide
and war crimes the first were the
nurenberg trials in Germany to prosecute
Nazi leaders after World War I they
enslaved millions of human beings there
was a tribunal that dealt with war
crimes in the former Yugoslavia sadan
mosovich the former Serbian president
became the first sitting head of state
to stand trial in Tanzania an
international tribunal prosecuted people
linked to the Rwanda genocide and there
was one in Cambodia that tried leaders
of the Chim Rouge for atrocities in the
1970s those were all temporary courts
focused on one particular country or
conflict but by the 1990s the world
agreed there needed to be a permanent
Court to try individuals for the worst
International crimes and that's why we
now have the international criminal
court or ICC
[Music]
it was set up in 2002 gets its Authority
from a treaty called the Rome statute
and prosecutes four crimes war crimes
crimes against humanity genocide and the
crime of aggression which covers things
like a military
Invasion but the IC is meant to be a
court of last resort so it only
intervenes when a country is unable or
unwilling to deal with these kinds of
crimes on its
own um on this side we have the
prosecutor and his team presenting the
case on the other side you have the
defense usually the defendant sits at
the last there and the witness is
underneath the public Gallery this is
one of the protective measures so that
the public doesn't have a direct
eyesight um on the witness out of 32
cases only six people have been
convicted of the icc's core crimes the
first was a former Rebel leader in the
DRC who was found guilty of war crimes
including the conscription of child
Soldiers the most recent was the former
head of the Islamic police Molly who was
found guilty of things like torture and
mutilation all of those convicted so far
have been from Africa which is something
people have criticized this shows that
there is something flow within the
system in ICC but the ICC rejects that
and says the pattern is just
circumstantial the first investigations
were opened at the request of Security
Council or at the request of the African
governments themselves so naturally it
was um focused on the African continent
so one argument is that it is just a
historical accident that the majority of
the early crimes when the statute came
into force in 2002 why in Africa but
that's not to deny that there's a very
political a very deliberate political
element um in the sense that there are
other cases which could have been
investigated the ICC now is
investigating crimes in places like
Bangladesh and Myanmar Venezuela and
Ukraine
today 20 people are wanted by the court
and the most high-profile arrest warrant
issued by this court is for Russian
President Vladimir Putin the Russian
President Vladimir Putin is now a wanted
man because of his alleged involvement
in the unlawful deportation of children
from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia
now issuing an arrest warrant is one
thing actually getting Putin to the IC
to stand trial is another but before we
unpick that we need to understand how
the icc's jurisdiction
Works 124 countries are members of the
ICC those countries give the court the
power to prosecute individuals for
crimes committed on their territory or
by their citizens now there are plenty
of countries that aren't members
including the US China India and Russia
but the ICC can still go after people
from non-member States the UN Security
Council can make a request it did that
with Sudan which is not a member that's
how the ICC was able to issue an arrest
warrant for former president Omar Al
Basher for atrocities in darur a
non-member can also decide to accept ICC
jurisdiction Ukraine did that so the
court could look into alleged Crimes by
Russian forces on its territory and
that's what led to Putin's arrest
warrant Moscow though dismissed the
announcement as outrageous saying it
doesn't recognize the jurisdiction of
the Court the judges issued arrest
warrants their execution depends on
International
cooperation right now it's almost
inconceivable that anyone in Moscow will
hand Putin over so the IC is relying on
other countries to arrest him if he
travels but there's no guarantee of that
Putin recently traveled to Mongolia an
ICC member that should in theory enforce
the arrest warrant but Putin wasn't
arrested he got the red carpet treatment
instead the IC R1 are valid for life
meaning that if the political situation
protects someone today we know that
politics always change at a certain time
this person would not be anymore
protected in this moment it seems like
you were never going to see Putin in the
he I mean ask people here I think if you
think that that's going to happen and I
think most people will say no this is
the exact same thing that they said
about slobad mosovich who died in jail
in the heg under indictment I mean you
just you don't know what's going to
happen in a few years that maybe there
will be regime change in Moscow and
maybe it is easier for the new leaders
to decide that it's you know better to
ship Putin off to the heg and have them
deal with it than have to deal with it
uh you know there think about nurenberg
think about the second world war and the
long battle to prosecute the Nazis and
the atrocities which carried on right up
to the 2000s so there is a very powerful
message here that momentarily
temporarily we may not be able to
activate the machinery and get hold of
you but the framew exists the promise
exists no matter how long it takes
[Music]
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
Weaknesses of international law - An animated explainer
Sources of international law | LexIcon
Global Governance in International Relations explained
Why Doesn't International Law Apply To The West?
Is the International Criminal Court Racist? | System Error
2.1 An Introduction to the International Court of Justice
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)